Fostered Sun-On Hiatus
by RorickTrevelyan
Summary: Modern/Realworld AU. When Ruby and Yang come back from Winter Break with a new brother, the others are excited to meet him. But there's more to him that meets the eye. And it's not until Ruby and Yang catch him sneaking out that they find out just what he's really up to, and the people he's hanging out with. Future Pairings in the works Rated M for safety and dark themes coming.
1. Untraveled Road

_Yay! New story, Modern AU and a bit more expansive than my other stories, and reviews are always appreciated. Even if it is just petting my ego, it does help me write more often because I do like encouragement. But if you do review it and actually give me advice I appreciate it because I really do enjoy learning more about the craft I want to make my living out of. So thank you for everyone who reviews and all those who favorite it, you truly do help me write!_

 _So a few things about this story: This is a modern AU so the songs I'm using are real life songs, I'll mention if they're writing original pieces. If you have any questions or suggestions go right ahead, I'll answer when I can!_

 _Thanks for reading!_

Foster Sun

 _Setlist:_

 _Black Box by This Beautiful Republic_

 _Untraveled Road by Thousand Foot Krutch_

 _War of Change by Thousand Foot Krutch_

Blake sat happily sipping on her full cup of tea. The cafeteria had just started to get really busy as lunch went into full swing and she enjoyed the time she had with her book while it lasted.

"Are you reading the same book again?" Weiss asked. Blake peered over the top of her book as the heiress sat with her sandwich across from her.

"And if I am?"

"At least buy a new copy, because that one looks like it will fall apart at any minute."

"Tell you what, you give me the money and I'll go buy the other copy."

"Sad part is that offer is tempting me." They both shared a laugh and resumed their lunches. "So how was your winter break?"

"It went well, all things considered. There was peace, quiet, new books, and lots of quiet snowy evenings."

"So you were alone again?" Weiss asked shaking her head.

"Yes," Blake said after another sip. "But though I was alone, it was still good. How about you, heiress?"

"Well my dad was the same he always is, focused on work and social events, but my older sister surprised us all."

"That's great!" Blake said. "How long has it been since you saw Winter?"

"Before the last few days it was almost two years." They enjoyed their lunch in silence for a few more moments. "By the way, did you get Ruby's text?"

"No, my phone's been off for a while, why?"

"She said she got a great gift, and that will affect us all," Weiss said as she scrolled through her phone trying to find it.

"As long as it's not another dog, I'm okay with whatever it is."

"I don't know, Ruby's never really vague about anything but she refused to tell me anything else. It's driving me up the wall."

"Perhaps that's why she's doing it?"

"Undoubtedly," she sighed. "They aren't usually this late. I wonder what's going on?"

"I'm sure it's nothing bad," Blake said as she turned the page. Blake peered over just as someone new walked up to the table.

"Um which one of you is Weiss?" he asked quietly.

"That would be me, who are you?"

"I was told to give this to you, I don't know why but here," he handed her something wrapped in a napkin. Weiss took it carefully and unwrapped a dog treat. Weiss' face steamed red and she snarled at the gift.

"Did Ruby tell you to give this to me?!" she asked angrily, Blake couldn't help but laugh a bit. "It was one time! And it was a year ago!"

"Actually I told him to give it to you Ice Queen," Yang said through her boisterous laughs as she turned the corner. "I couldn't resist it! But thanks for playing along, bro!"

Ruby came by with her meal just as Jaune and Pyrrha did too.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked, she looked down at the dog treat in Weiss' hands and couldn't help but giggle.

"Ruby I swear! And who is this?!" Weiss asked angrily, pointing back to the new man.

"This is our brother, Sun!" Ruby said happily.

Everyone at the table collectively looked over at the new man even as he moved his head down and tried to move away. But Yang stopped him in a shoulder hug and sat him down right next to Blake. He sighed and just kept looking down. He wore a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a couple buttons undone to show the beaded necklace he wore. His blue jeans were rolled up a few rolls and his red converse had seen better days. All in all he looked like he just rolled out of bed, right down to the shaggy blonde hair. Blake's eyes were immediately drawn to the long golden tail he had that curled around his waist acting as a belt. He wasn't exactly hiding his Faunus traits but they weren't plain for everyone to see either.

"I can't help but feel like we're missing some context here," Pyrrha said finally.

"He was our Christmas present, he's our new foster brother," Yang explained. Sun half-heartedly waved as he scanned over the others.

"Yep!" Ruby said happily. "He's really nice and he plays guitar!"

"So do we call you Sun Rose or Sun Xiao Long?" Jaune asked with a smirk.

"You'll actually call him Sun Wukong, cause that's his name," Yang said sternly. It caught them off guard how serious she was about him. "But c'mon Sun talk a little, these guys are cool!"

Sun just nodded and waved again.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Sun," Pyrrha said. Sun nodded again.

"That definitely explains your vague texts, Ruby," Weiss concluded.

"Well I didn't want to say anything in case it didn't work out, but it did! So I'm really happy!"

They all continued to eat, passing small talk back and forth. Yang tried to get Sun into the conversation a few times but he just sat back and listened.

"So Sun what's your next class?" Yang asked.

"Statistics, room 105C," he said.

"Cool, I think Blake has that class don't ya?"

"No but I'm right next to it, I can show you if you need," Blake offered.

"Thanks."

"Welp, then I guess I'll see ya at the truck! Have fun bro!"

Sun nodded again and grabbed his back pack before following Blake.

"So how're you settling in?" Blake asked.

"I'm getting there," he said.

"That's good, I'm glad you're with Ruby and Yang, they've been really good friends for me."

"I bet."

They walked in silence for a bit longer.

"So why do you wear your tail like that?" she asked.

"Oh, cause I used to watch Dragon Ball Z, so I started it when I was younger and-. That sounded cooler in my head," he said.

"No I get it, that's cool."

"Thanks."

"Well here's your class, have fun."

"I'll try," he said as he left.

XXX

"He's trying," Yang told her father.

"That's good, has he made any friends of his own? It's been a couple of weeks."

"Not that I've met, but he's really opened up to our friends. He even told a story today!" Ruby said happily.

"Good, that's good hear. I take it he's doing well here too?"

"Yep, he's upstairs doing homework now."

"That's good, well I need to get to work, but it's good to hear he's doing so well. You two have a good night, and be nice to your brother. I'll see you in the morning sweetie."

"Have a good night Dad!" Ruby called out. The two sat on the couch for a moment longer enjoying their shows.

"Hey, I'll get started on dinner, why don't you grab Sun and we'll eat soon."

"Okay." Ruby skipped away and down the hall towards Sun's room. "Hey, Sun? We're gonna eat soon, ya hungry?" Ruby could hear faint music coming from the other side but nothing else. "Sun?" She knocked again. "You in there?" She slowly opened the door but he wasn't in the room. "Sun?"

"What's taking so long, Rubes?"

"Sun's not in his room!" Ruby called out. "Is he out there?"

"No, I haven't seen him," Yang called back. Ruby ran to the open window and saw Sun on his bike riding towards the downtown area.

"He's on his bike!" Ruby yelled.

"Wait, what?" Yang ran in and looked just as Sun turned his bike onto the road.

"Where's he going?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know. Come on we're following him. Call Blake and Weiss, they live down there maybe they can find him."

XXX

Blake sat in her room trying not to listen to the noise of Adam's meeting; he wanted her to have plausible deniability, whatever that meant so she wasn't allowed to listen. She would have left hours ago but she had nowhere to go, and she didn't feel like wandering the city alone again. So she kept reading her book until her phone chirped off a message.

" _Sun snuck out and went downtown towards you, can you see if you can find him? Yang and I tried to follow but we lost him –Red like Roses._ "

Blake blinked a few times before she typed out her quick response and gathered her coat and shoes. She ran out of the door quickly but he stopped her.

"Where are you going?" he asked. The malice in his voice was easy to hear.

"To check on a friend," she answered.

"Don't be out late."

She nodded and ran out, the cigar smoke in the room was overbearing. She remembered why she hated these meetings now. She ran down to her car just as Sun rode by and chained his bike up in a gas station parking lot. He unhooked his guitar case from the back of the bike and began walking towards someplace she knew well.

XXX

" _I got him, he's going toward a bar by the 7-11, he went in a few minutes ago-Beauty killed the Beast._ "

" _Wait the one by your place?-Mirror, Mirror._ "

" _Yeah, he's here-Beauty killed the Beast._ "

" _We're on our way-Red like Roses._ "

"He's at the bar down by Blake's place," Ruby said. Yang threw her truck in gear and sped down towards the bar, far faster than Ruby was comfortable with. Yang saw the beat up silver sedan and the brand-new white Mercedes that signaled their two friends.

"You're sure he's here?" Yang asked.

"I saw him walk in there, plus his bike's still here."

"What's he doing here?" Weiss asked. "This place is a dump."

"Isn't this the place Uncle Qrow hangs out at?"

"Yep," Yang answered with a smirk. "But what's he doing here, and this late at night?"

They walked to the door and tried to peek in but there was nothing.

"Can I help you?" the doorman asked, jarring them out of their focused state.

"We're with Sun; we were just running a bit late," Yang lied.

"Oh, yeah go on in," he said. The girls tried to quietly make their way in to where Sun would be. It was easy with the blaring music in the bar.

" _I know it's a tragedy/That sometime people can lose their wings/Now we're crashing down/What will they see/When there's nothing left who are we?_ "

"Who's singing that?"

"I'll check," Ruby said as she moved forward, she peeked her head around the corner and her eyes went wide as she saw Sun standing on the stage guitar in hand shredding his way to the end of the song. The other people on the stage all seemed about the same age as him and all had an instrument.

"What's going on up there?" Weiss asked.

"Guys, Sun's in a band!" Ruby whispered happily.

"Say what?" Yang asked. Ruby took the lead and led them to a hidden part of the bar where they could watch without Sun seeing them.

"Well that went well," the front man said. He messed with a few knobs on his bass as the guitarists kept tuning. "I really like that song."

"Same, I'm all for it," the drummer chimed in with his accent. Ruby pinned it as British.

"Great then we're all agreed?" the other guitarist asked.

"Yep, so we add 'Black Box' to our list, did you guys write anything original like I asked?" Sun asked.

"I tried but there's a reason I'm back here," the drummer said.

"You've got writing talent David you just need to-."

"Oi, while I'm on the kit my name is Scarlet! If we can call him Neptune and him Sage you can call me Scarlet."

"But my middle name is actually Sage, and you complained when you had to call me Ulysses, which is my first name," the second guitarist said.

"Then what about Neptune?"

"Sadly that is actually my name, my mother was into the whole non-traditional names," he admitted playing with his bass knobs a bit more.

"Then you guys can call me Scarlet,"

"Whatever _Scarlet_ ," Neptune said with an exaggerated voice.

"Look I have to do some adjusting on my pedal board, you guys talk amongst yourselves," Sun said digging through his case.

"Hey dude, did you check out the new KI update?" Sage asked.

"Yes I did," Scarlet said happily.

"And?"

"Everyone's getting nerfs and buffs in Season 3, Maya got reworked, as did Spinal,"

"I figured that, but more importantly did Aganos get anything?"

"Oh yeah, he can get rocks faster now, he can make bats easier and the time between bats in his instinct got reduced. He's much better now."

"NO!" Sage shouted. "That'll make fighting her suck even more now."

"Fighting who?"

"This one girl on Killer ranked her name's 'Red Like Roses', she's kicked my butt every single time with Aganos and pretty badly! She consecutively destroys me."

"Ouch," Scarlet said with a laugh.

"Dude you laughed but she stuffed my Hisako and my Fulgore, and that's just wrong!"

"How?"

"She's just that good! She actually shadow countered me through three walls and I died. I had 75% health left! I'm scared for Season 3 now," Sage said.

"I swear I'm going to have to learn this game just to understand you two," Neptune said with a smirk. "Or you know you two could wait to talk about it?"

"Alright fine, we'll talk about your dating life cause that's always fun and short-lived," Scarlet said shifting his throne over toward Neptune. "So what about it Neptune? Got any special lasses in yer eye?"

"Actually yes," Neptune said happily.

"Wait what?" Sage asked. He and Scarlet went wide eyed. "Well who is she?"

"I have no idea, I just see her at school sometimes."

"Well what's she look like, I might know her," Scarlet asked. Neptune shook his head.

"It's no big deal, besides I don't even know if I'm ready yet,"

"Can we get back on task? I don't have much time this week, I rode my bike here remember?" Sun asked.

"Yeah speaking of, how's the new family? Better than the last one?" Sage asked.

"From what I heard anything would be better than the last one, but how are they?" Neptune said.

Sun took off his guitar and sat on his amp with a sigh. "They're amazing," he said with a simple smile. "Taiyang has done everything in his power to make me feel at home, and it works. Plus Ruby and Yang, there was no awkward step-brother thing it was just immediate. I was part of the family as soon as I stepped through the door. Yang actually laughs at my jokes."

"Well there's a difference between humor and giving mercy,"

"Yeah screw you too, Neptune. And Ruby is this little bundle of energy; it feels like I actually have a little sister, it's great."

"That's awesome, so you told them about us?" Scarlet asked.

"As much as I would like to, I don't really want to open that can of worms yet, so let's just do one more song before I leave."

"Alright which one?"

"I'm thinking either ' _Casting Off_ ,' or ' _Untraveled road_ ' since we know those well enough."

"I'm always down for some TFK!" Scarlet said happily.

"Well then start us off, Sun!" Neptune said.

Sun started out with a riff on his guitar as Scarlet and Sage started clapping to keep tempo.

" _Hold on for a second/If words could be weapons/Then what I say can affect it/They're not just words they're a record/And I could choose to respect it/ or choose to infect it/ But once it hits the water/It's too late to be selective._ "

Ruby and the others watched as they kept playing through the song each of them putting everything into their playing. Blake was amazed at Sun's skill, he was breezing the song, but having fun with it.

" _When we scream/Our lips don't make a sound/We march with feet on solid ground/We walk/Where no one wants to go/On this untraveled road!_ " They ended the song with a bang and proceeded to jump around excitedly.

"Oh that was awesome!" Scarlet shouted.

"Yeah but I guess the only question left is how did you guys like it?"

"Well you know me," Sun started as he took his guitar off. "I like any practice that goes smoothly."

"Good to know but I was asking those young ladies in the corner," Neptune corrected.

Sun looked over just as Yang stood up clapping.

"WOO! Encore!" Yang shouted with a giant smile on her face.

Sun's face paled and he grew a horrified expression. Ruby soon joined her in chanting "Encore".

"Hey look at that boys, we've got fans!" Scarlet said happily.

"What's your guys' names?" Sage asked.

"I'm Yang, that's my little sister Ruby, and these are our friends: Blake and Weiss."

"Wait, weren't those your sister's names?" Neptune asked. Sun just nodded still stuck in his horrified expression. The band suddenly got a defeated look on their face.

"Oh, bollocks," Scarlet muttered.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Sorry Sun, I didn't know who they were," Neptune said. He jerked his bass off and moved down off the stage quickly running towards the girls. "Look can we talk to you guys for a minute?"

"Sure," Yang said happily.

Soon all of them were standing on stage, the four boys were much more nervous than the girls.

"Look, Sun needs to stay here, he needs this," Neptune started. "I've been friends with Sun since we were six; I've seen what he's gone through. He needs this."

"Neptune, I can defend myself," Sun said angrily.

"Look what happened last time. I didn't hear from you for a month!"

"You fought for us mate," Scarlet said. "Let us fight for you."

"I'm not ready to give this up," Sage told him.

"Don't put yourself through this again! Let us help you," Neptune pleaded.

"Can you guys play that song again, cause that was awesome!" Ruby asked.

The four turned their heads back to the girls.

"Come again?" Scarlet asked.

"That was amazing!" Yang said. "I'm still waiting for my encore!"

The band shared a look of confusion.

"R-really?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah, you guys sounded great, especially for a high school band," Blake said.

"Why are you so nervous about us knowing about you, shouldn't bands want exposure?" Weiss asked.

"We're not really in this for fame or nothing," Scarlet said. "For us this is an escape from our every day lives. And considering what Sun gave up for us, we can't stay away."

"What happened?" Blake asked.

"That's up to him to say," Neptune said. "All we can tell you guys for sure is that Sun needs this."

"I'll tell them," Sun said.

"You don't have to, dude."

"Yeah I do, I owe them that at least."

"I already know," Yang said. Sun jerked his head up to see Yang smiling. "Our dad told us everything. Now come on, let's get the encore started!" Yang literally shoved Sun towards his guitar and took her seat on the front row. The others joined her and left the band on the stage.

"Alright what song do we do?" Neptune asked, still shocked at what had happened.

"We could do _War of Change_ ," Scarlet suggested.

"Yeah, that one's our best!" Sage agreed.

"Alright, start us off Sun," Neptune said. Sun nodded and clicked in his delay pedal while he played the rhythm.

" _It's a truth in love and war/Worlds collide and hearts get broken/I wanna live like I know I'm dying/Take up my cross/Not be afraid/Is it true what they say/The words and the weapons/And if it is/Then everybody best start stepping/Cause I got change in my pocket/That'll bend your locket/I'm tired of all these rockets saying/Come with me_."

The others let them play through three more songs before they started tearing down.

"So how long have you guys been doing this?" Blake asked.

"Since middle school, we've been friends since elementary school though," Neptune said. "We started really playing when we hit 8th grade."

"Impressive, you guys are very good for high school kids. You could really go big," Weiss suggested.

"That's not really the goal for us though; this for us is just an escape. I mean if we did get big I wouldn't complain but this is just for fun." Neptune slid over towards Weiss and grew a big goofy smile. "I'm Neptune by the way," he said as he stuck his hand out to Weiss. "And your name is?"

"Out of your league," she said coldly.

"Ouch, point taken, I'll be over here."

"Can we have you come do that like every week, just to help keep his ego under control?" Sage asked. They shared a laugh and continued to tear down.

"You said your name was Yang right?" Scarlet asked suddenly.

"Yeah why?" Yang asked.

"Cause the little one's been staring at me for like ten minutes and she hasn't said anything yet." They turned and Ruby was studying Scarlet and the drums.

"Rubes," Yang called out. Ruby snapped out of her daze and jerked her head around for a minute. "Ask your question."

"Oh yeah," she turned back to Scarlet excitedly. "Can you teach me drums?!" she asked.

Scarlet blinked a few times in shock. "What?"

"Well I know a few things but I really want to learn to play, but I can't when I'm in Band cause they already have a drummer but if you could teach me then I might actually get to play. And you actually know how to play, not just like me but you really play!"

"Ruby, breathe!" Yang said.

Ruby took a few deep breaths and looked back at Scarlet. "Please?"

"Well I mean I could, but I don't know the freshman class schedule," Scarlet said.

"Huh?" Ruby asked. "I'm not a freshman."

"No way," Scarlet said shaking his head. "You're a bit young to be a sophomore."

"I'm not a sophomore either."

"Dude she's a junior, she's in my AP Calc class," Neptune said.

"Shite she's like 15!"

"She got sent ahead two grades. So she skipped freshman and sophomore year," Yang explained.

"Dog's bollocks," Scarlet said. "Well yeah I'll try, but I taught myself."

"Anything you can teach me is perfect! I just need to learn!"

"Well take the kit kid; show me what you can do."

Ruby sat down and stared excitedly at the drums for a moment before grabbing Scarlet's sticks. Ruby counted off four beats with the high hat then started a breakdown that shocked everyone there, Yang included. She kept playing various beats but had to stop and get her bearings between each.

"Yeah like I said I can do a few things but I don't know how to _really_ play, so I want to really learn," she said.

"I'll bring you some of my extra practice pads and sticks tomorrow, meet me in the lunchroom," Scarlet said in shock.

"Wait I recognized that beat, what was that from?" Sage asked.

"Oh that's from Maya's theme in Killer Instinct, I love the music in that game."

"You play KI?"

"Yeah, I play all the characters but I really like Maya and Sabrewulf but I'm excited to play as Kim Wu."

"What's your tag?"

" _Red Like Roses_ ," she said.

"You're Red Like Roses?!" Sage asked.

"Yeah why?" Ruby asked. Sage just hung his head.

"No reason." Scarlet and Neptune just laughed loudly.

"Hey Neptune, could you take my pedal board and amp again? I rode my bike here," Sun asked.

"Yeah no problem, I've got room in my car."

"Sun, I brought my truck, I can load it up," Yang said.

"Careful that amp weighs a-." Yang threw the amp on her shoulder single-handedly and walked off with it.

"You're family's weird," Sage said quietly.

"You have no idea," Sun said happily.

XXX


	2. The Sound Of Silence

_Setlist:_

 _So Far Gone by Thousand Foot Krutch_

 _Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel_

"I have an idea, let's use your little pet," Roman said after another puff on his cigar. "Let's have her take the fall."

"No."

"Aww too attached to old Fluffy to put her down? You may want to tighten that collar though; she got out without a second thought tonight. Who knows she might meet a tomcat outside and then you'd be-."

Adam slammed Roman's hand to the table with a knife dangerously close to his fingers. "Enough," he growled again.

"Fine, but the question remains."

The door opened and Blake tried to just run through but Adam stopped her.

"You do not leave again until Friday, no one sees you outside of school before then. Do you understand?" he asked.

Blake just nodded.

"Do you understand?" Adam asked again, harsher this time.

"Yes Adam, I understand."

"You're dismissed."

Blake nodded and ran through again. Adam looked back at his map of the city.

"Maybe you do have that leash on tight enough," Roman said again.

"Enough, we'll continue this next week."

"Well then hopefully you'll grow a pair and actually see that setting her up is-."

Adam slammed Roman against the wall by his throat and held him there.

"You're getting to attached Adam, you know that right?"

"You're interfering with my business," he said.

"Isn't that why you hired me?"

"And I'm dangerously close to rescinding our deal."

"Fine, then I'd like to hear the ideas you come up with on your own, and when you do then you can tell me."

XXX

"I have some ideas," Scarlet said. He'd just sat at their usual table in the cafeteria and pulled out his binder.

"You actually wrote last night?" Neptune asked.

"Yep, I was up till two last night writing. Now whether they're any good or not I'll leave that up to you."

"Well let me have a look," Neptune said. His eyes flashed up towards the door and he dropped the binder in his mad dash up from the table.

"What the?"

Neptune jogged up to Weiss as she sat down next to Blake. "Hey there," Neptune called out. Weiss and Blake looked up just as Neptune arrived.

"Hey Neptune, are you looking for Sun?" Blake asked.

"Actually I wanted to talk to 'Out of your league' first, but if he's coming I can wait."

"What?" Weiss asked.

"Well that's what you said your name was right?" Neptune asked. Weiss' confused look turned to a glare.

"Funny," she deadpanned.

"Look, I wanted to apologize if I came on a bit strong last night, so let's just start over okay? My name's Neptune Vasillias, what's yours?" he asked.

Weiss thought for a moment before standing up to shake his hand. "Weiss Schnee."

"Wow," Neptune's smile grew bigger.

"What?" she asked.

"That's a cool name," Neptune said.

Weiss blinked for a few moments. "Do you not know that name?"

"No, that's the first time I'd heard it, it's nice though."

"Oh, I see," Weiss started to smile back.

"So do you want to hang out this weekend? Maybe go to that new coffee place downtown?"

"Subtlety isn't a strong suit of yours is it?"

"I'm the front man of a rock band, are you shocked?" he asked. She let out another laugh.

"Not this weekend unfortunately, I have prior plans, but maybe another time."

"So you're saying there's a chance?" Neptune said happily.

"I'm sorry?" Weiss asked.

"Never mind, inside joke, sorry."

"Having fun Neptune?" Sun asked with Ruby and Yang in tow.

"Depends on your definition," he responded. "Oh Ruby, Scarlet's got your stuff hold on." Neptune dashed off and returned with Scarlet and Sage, all of them taking seats with them.

"Here you are Little Red," Scarlet said handing over the stuff. "Three practice pads, two pairs of sticks and a little metronome for you. Enjoy!"

"Thanks Big Red!" Ruby said with a giggle.

"Aww how adorable," Yang sighed.

They continued to have conversations off and on even after Pyrrha and Jaune joined them. The whole table turned in silence when they heard a shriek of pain. Scarlet turned and saw Cardin pulling on Velvet's rabbit ears.

"Let go you clod!" she shouted.

"What do you know? They are real, I guess I owe you five bucks!" he said boisterously. Scarlet turned back and clutched the table tightly enough to make the table groan under the strain.

"Come on man, keep control," Sage said.

"Let go, Cardin!" she ordered.

"What's the matter, Energizer? Gotta keep going?" one of Cardin's friends asked. Scarlet grabbed the table even tighter.

"Don't let this get to you!" Sage warned.

"Or maybe she's like a playboy bunny!" Cardin shouted.

"Nope, I take it back, kick his ass," Sage said.

"With gusto."

Scarlet marched down to Cardin and came up behind him. Before Cardin's friends had a chance to warn him, Scarlet grabbed his ears and yanked as hard as he could.

"OW! What the hell?!" Cardin asked.

"What do you know, they are real," Scarlet marveled. "Hey Sage I owe you five bucks!" he shouted.

"Oh you think you're being cute, huh?" Cardin asked as he got up. Being a football player he easily outsized Scarlet.

"Bitch, I'm adorable."

Cardin just shook his head and went to punch him, Scarlet grabbed his hand and twirled around him holding his hand behind his back and forced him down to his knees. Cardin yelled out in pain just like Velvet did.

"Now why don't you apologize to Miss Velvet and I'll let you go?"

"I'll kill you, you little cunt!" Cardin yelled.

"Has it been so long since you've seen one you've forgotten what they look like?" Scarlet asked. Cardin growled out and tried to break free, but Scarlet tightened his grip and put him back down. "Now apologize."

"I'll kill you!"

"Sorry wrong answer." Scarlet moved his hands over an inch and Cardin yelped in pain again.

"Alright fine jeez! I'm sorry!" he said.

"Not quite, what's her name?"

Cardin sighed angrily. "I'm sorry, Velvet."

"One more time just for good measure."

"I'm sorry, Velvet."

Scarlet nodded and dropped Cardin who then fell to his face as he walked off. Velvet stared at the whole scene before leaving herself and Cardin fought to pick himself up.

"That was awesome!" Ruby said happily.

"And clever, that was some quick thinking," Weiss admitted.

"You stole all of that from Team Four Star!" Sage said with a laugh.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that," Scarlet argued. "Besides I meant what I said."

"Well before we get in trouble maybe we'd better scram," Sun warned.

"Where did you learn that arm hold, that was impressive," Pyrrha said.

"From my dad, he was a police officer for a few years. He's actually why I want to go to the Police academy after I graduate."

"That's cool!" Ruby said.

"So I had a question, when's your guys' next rehearsal?" Yang asked suddenly.

"Probably next Wednesday, that's when we've always had them, why?" Neptune asked.

The bell rang as students quickly scattered to their next class.

"No reason," Yang said with a smile.

"That smile scares me a little," Sage said.

"It scares me a lot," Scarlet agreed. The friends started to scatter for their classes. Neptune started to turn away until he saw something fall out of Weiss' pocket. He dove to get it and catch her but she was gone.

"Well crap," he muttered. He dove through the door into his next class and saw Ruby do the same just before the bell rang. "Hey this fell out of Weiss' pocket, I tried to catch her but she ran off too quickly."

"Oh, that's her mp3 player, she probably won't notice for a few hours."

"Well can you text her and tell her that I picked it up?"

"Yeah hold on,"

XXX

"I swear I brought it today, that's odd," Weiss mumbled. She preferred to do the busy work of her arts class with her music but she couldn't find her mp3 player.

"Did you have it in your bag?"

"No, because I use it enough I thought I kept it in my pocket." Weiss looked down as her scroll buzzed.

" _Hey, you dropped your mp3 player and Neptune picked it up, we're in AP calc now-Red Like Roses._ "

"Oh, Neptune found it." She smiled a bit and texted Ruby back her instructions.

"You smile a lot when you talk about him," Blake smirked.

"Well he's funny, and charming to say the least. But honestly I'd rather not go through that again."

"Weiss he doesn't even know your name, either he's dense enough to not know, or he's smart enough to not care."

"But I don't want him getting hurt, he's too nice!" Weiss sighed and sat down on her stool in front of her painting. It wasn't too good, but she wasn't an artist. She took the class because she needed it and because Blake was in it. "Plus I don't want to make things awkward between the band, they seem to be really tight knit."

"Ten bucks says they push him to ask you out," Blake said deadpan.

"I wish."

XXX

" _Tell him 'keep it; I'll pick it up from you after school'-Mirror, Mirror._ "

"She says just to keep it; she'll get it after school," Ruby said.

"Okay, guess that works." Neptune plopped down on his chair as the teacher passed out a worksheet.

"Hey can we listen to music while we do this?" one kid asked.

"Sure, why not? Keep it in your headphones though."

"Sweet!" Neptune said excitedly. He pulled out his scroll and saw his battery life rapidly falling. "Crud!" Neptune sighed and started rolling up his headphones until he saw Weiss' mp3 player. "Ruby do you think Weiss would mind if I listened to that? My scroll's dying."

"Nah, go for it. She barely listens to it anyway. She just pumps new music into it."

Neptune shrugged and popped his headphones in to hear…

Metal.

The screaming jarred Neptune visibly and he looked down at the screen as he flipped through the music. Metal, jazz, piano, classic symphonic movements, classic rock, electronic, pretty much every genre except country. He looked through the artists until he saw a couple he was familiar with. The guitar started softly as he worked on his papers. He grew attached to the lyrics.

" _I know they say that the space between/Can make it stronger than we've ever seen/They might be right but I disagree/Cause I've never felt stronger than when you're with me._ "

He kept listening as he flew through the paper enjoying the song.

" _I wanna be so far gone in you/So far nothing else will ever do/I wanna be so far gone in you/In you._ "

The song finally ended but Neptune just rewound it and put it on repeat. The papers flew by and even though Ruby finished hers before he did (like usual) he still finished quicker than normal. He spent the rest of the time writing the lyrics down and the information for the song.

He was going to do something odd.

XXX

"I mean we're all odd, but that's the point," Scarlet said.

"Yeah but you stand out the most, it's just a fact," Sage responded.

"Neptune's got blue hair!"

"But he's the front man, that's kinda the point. Besides it's been like six months since we did that to him, I'm starting to think it's natural now," Sun said in a smirk.

"So what's wrong with me?"

"A lot, but we'll get to that later," Neptune said jogging up. "I know this is last minute but take these." He handed out the papers and the notes in his binder.

"What is this?"

"A pet project."

" _So Far Gone_? Isn't that TFK?" Scarlet asked.

"Yes, we're learning it."

"Alrighty then, what's all this about?" Sun asked.

"I'm calling in my Band favor."

The guys' eyes went wide and they looked at each other in shock.

"You've been holding onto that for three years!"

"I know, but we're learning this. It's pretty simple but I want to learn it quickly."

"Why?"

"You'll find out," Neptune said as he looked at his watch. "Sorry gotta go, I'll talk to you guys later."

"I feel as if we missed some context," Sage said.

"Well if that bird is the one he's got 'is eye on, then maybe this is fer her."

"Maybe," Sun said as he looked over the papers. "Well Sage you get to pull out your acoustic."

"Boo-yah!"

XXX

"Where is he?" Weiss asked herself, until she saw the blue blur of his hair.

"SorryhereyagoIgottacatchthebussorrytalktoyoulaterkbye!" he shouted as he tossed her the mp3 player and dove onto one of the busses as it started to leave.

"What?"

XXX

Sage sighed as his warm up ended, and he drank from his water bottle happily.

"Hey Sage!" his coach shouted.

"Yeah what's up?"

"You've got the bags for the hour, but I need you in the ring in 30."

"Got it," he shouted back. Sage put his mouth guard back in and set to work on his routines. It seemed far shorter than 30 minutes later, but he was summoned back in the ring by his coach.

"You're in luck, you've got a sparring partner."

"Really who? I thought we were alone on Thursdays," Sage said.

"Well someone changed their schedule it seems."

Sage shrugged and got in the ring just to stare at the blonde woman wearing little but a pair of gym shorts and a sports bra doing much the same thing he was, and continued to stare at her attire.

"Sage? You spar here too?" she asked, jarring him out of his daze.

"Yeah, I do, what are you doing here, Yang?"

"Well I used to do this on Wednesdays but I rescheduled cause of your guys' practice. Now come on, put 'em up!" she said as she put her mouth guard back in.

Sage shrugged and did the same. They'd sparred for about an hour before it was clear that Yang was beating the tar out of him.

"I give, I give, holy crap!" he said as he leaned against the ropes.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you're petering out already!"

"Sorry, I can't take the punishment like you can, I usually only sparred with my brothers."

"You've got brothers?"

"Two older ones, and a younger sister, all of which fall under the 'pain in the butt' category, but they're my family."

"That's kinda how I feel about Ruby," she said.

"But not about Sun?"

"Well he's only been my brother for three weeks, give me some time."

"It's amazing," he said happily.

"What is?"

"How much Sun's changed, even passively, you guys have really helped him."

"Well that's good to hear, what about you?"

"Huh?"

"What's your story, y'all seem to have a story."

"Hmm, well mine's family troubles, but it's not as bad. I'm the normal one, relatively."

"What's up?"

"Well eight out of ten of my immediate family have all served in the military, and my little sister's already decided that's what she wants to do."

"But not you, I suppose?"

"Not that I don't respect it, just that it's not for me. I know what I want to do."

"And what's that?"

"Well the rest of the guys don't seem to want to, but I want to be a musician for a living. I've learned guitar and piano by myself, and I actually write my own stuff, just nothing that the guys would perform."

"Why not?"

"Different styles," he said.

The two sat in the boxing ring talking for a lot longer before their coaches just gave up on them and left.

"Seems we missed the point of the evening," Sage said.

"I don't know, I liked it, I'd like to do this again."

Sage went wide eyed and smiled. "I would too, but howsabout somewhere more romantic than a boxing ring?"

"Is there such a thing?"

"Maybe I'll find a place."

XXX

"Y-you what?" Ruby asked.

"I agreed to go on a date with him! He's really nice!" she said happily.

"You've known him for a day and half!"

"That doesn't stop anybody besides, it's not like I slept with him. We're going to lunch on Saturday."

"Yeah but-."

Sun walked in the room just as the argument died down, still carrying his guitar. "I um-," he paused and dropped his guitar. "I owe you two an apology," he said.

"For what?"

"For sneaking out, I was scared that you guys would be like the other families that adopted me and just try to take that away again."

"Hey I get it," Yang said. "I'd be pissed if someone tried to take away my boxing routine, it's cool Sun. We understand, we even told our dad and all he wanted to know was if you had rides to and from the practices."

"Thank you two, this really helps." Sun said with a smile. "Wait you box Yang?"

"Yep, have for a few years."

"You should go to the Signal gym, that's where Sage practices."

Yang just fell the floor in laughter as Ruby stormed out.

"I feel like I'm missing some context here."

XXX

"-and contextually speaking the evidence doesn't stack with his story, it seems he-." Adam looked at Blake returning from school and clicked the recorder off. "I told you that you weren't to go anywhere except school."

"The bus was late Adam, it had a flat. There was nowhere else," she defended. Adam stared at her for a moment before returning to his desk.

"I've work to do, stay in your room until I'm done."

"Adam?" she asked. He looked back as she stood by her door. "Can I play on your old keyboard?"

Adam said nothing but pointed towards the closet with his head. Blake hurried and grabbed it before rushing back to her room. "Keep it quiet, I need to work."

Blake nodded.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

"I understand, Adam."

"I'll let you know when you can leave."

Blake nodded and closed the door. The cords fit into her computer and her headphones into that. Blake spent the rest of her evening playing old songs she knew, she wasn't as creative as Sun was.

Sun.

She really was a hypocrite, chastising Weiss for hiding away like that. But in the end that's all she ever did, she hid away. She was always good at hiding, whether she liked it or not.

" _Hello darkness my old friend,_ " she sang to the empty room. " _I've come to talk with you again._ "


	3. Dear X, You Don't Own Me

_Thanks for the positive feedback you guy(s) have been giving. It honors me and humbles me at the same time._

 _Enjoy!_

 _Setlist: Black Box by This Beautiful Republic_

 _Dear X, You Don't Own Me by Disciple_

 _The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel_

"Seriously, you too?!" Ruby asked as she put her head on the table harshly.

"I'm sorry what?" Weiss asked.

"Sage and I are going out on Saturday for lunch," Yang said with a smirk. "She's none to happy 'bout it."

"Ah, well if it makes you feel better, Ruby I just said I _would_ go out with him. We don't have any plans yet."

"Doesn't make it any better! Next thing you know Blake and Sun are gonna waltz off all lovey-dovey!"

"Why did I get roped into this?" Blake asked.

"What I'm curious about is why you're so upset Ruby," Weiss said. Ruby's face contorted and she crossed her arms.

"It's stupid."

"If it is making you upset, then it's not stupid."

"That's not always true," she said.

"Still, I want to know."

Ruby lowered her head but kept her arms crossed. "It's not fair."

Yang sighed and pulled her sister into a hug. "Sorry Rubes, we kinda forgot. Can you forgive us?"

"Whatever," she said in a poorly hidden grin. Ruby noticed first the quiet woman waiting on them. Velvet stood by and nervously looked around for a minute or two.

"Hey, um, you're friends with David right?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's giving me drum lessons, why?"

"Well I wanted to talk to him, do you know where he is?"

"He should be here in a minute, Velv," Yang said.

"Who should be here?" Sun asked.

"David," Yang explained. "Velv wants to talk to him." Velvet grew more and more nervous.

"Oh, he'll be around in a minute, he was talking to his physics teacher."

"Who was talking to who now?" Neptune asked, bringing the rest of the crowd. Velvet sighed and looked around even more nervous than before.

"She's waiting for David- oh sorry- _Scarlet_ ," Sun said.

"Really, why?" Neptune asked.

"I just wanted to talk to him; I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!" Velvet said still flustered.

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Scarlet yelled from behind her, she leaped away from the shock and all of them stared at them. "I've no idea what you lot are talkin' about but I couldn't resist that. So what's goin' on?"

"Velvet wanted to talk to you," Yang said.

The scene suddenly went from everyone talking amongst themselves to everyone staring at Velvet and Scarlet staring at each other nervously. Velvet dug through her bag and produced a small box, thrusting it out towards Scarlet.

"T-these are for you!" she forced out. Scarlet opened the box and saw the layers of cookies and sweets. "Thanks for sticking up for me, ever since Coco and Yatsuhashi graduated last year I don't have a lot of people to count on, so thank you."

"'Ey, no problem, thanks for the biscuits!" Scarlet immediately popped one of them in his mouth and made an appreciative sound. Velvet smiled and started to relax a bit more.

"So, why did they call you Scarlet?"

"Cause it's my band name!"

Velvet smiled and nodded. "That's awesome! Good literary reference!" she said.

"HA!" he said pointing back at Sage. "She gets it! I'm keepin' it!"

"Damn it all," Sage muttered. The rest of the group shared a laugh as Velvet turned to leave.

"Hey, um, if you would be interested, we could maybe go get something to drink or something, like that, uh, maybe," he said. Velvet nodded and wrote her scroll number on his hand. She waved silently and bounded off.

"Smooth," Neptune said with a smirk.

"But hey it worked! I finally grew a pair and I got a date!" Scarlet shouted, others clapped for him as he did. "Today's a good day!"

"I hate you all," Ruby muttered in a fake pout.

XXX

"How can Mr. Port make something as exciting as history sound so boring?!" Yang whined as she walked towards her truck.

"I don't know because I had AP Calc, and that is never exciting ever!" she argued.

"Hey I wanted to say sorry again, Rubes. I know it's been hard on you, but it'll work out."

"I know, but seriously it's just like you all met now you're all getting dates, and I'm alone playing video games in my room!" she said. "I miss doing things like that."

Yang hugged her around her shoulders and tossed their bags in the back of her truck. "It'll all work out Rubes, I promise. Now where's Sun?"

XXX

Sun landed against the brick wall with a thud and slid down just as Cardin reached back down to pick him up. "And today was going so well," he muttered.

"Guess you freaks stick together huh?" Cardin asked. They were alone for this, Cardin's friends had already left at his orders. This was personal. "So this time when I'm having my fun with you dumb animals, you're little red friend can't interfere."

Sun just spit a glob of blood in his face. Cardin growled and threw him back into the wall, he cleaned his face off and kicked Sun in the stomach. Sun huddled and protected what was important. Sad as it was to admit, this was second nature to him. He knew how to take a beating. But that didn't mean he was going to let it happen.

The next time Cardin tried to kick him, he caught his foot and shoved him back, throwing him off balance and letting Sun scramble up and away from the confrontation. Sun managed to hide away and watch Cardin run the other way. Sun sighed and held his ribs; he gingerly traced his fingers around the outline of the bruised ones. He was experienced enough to know that there weren't any ribs broken, just bruised. There was nothing broken this time, just a light dusting. He looked up just he saw the red blur of Ruby's hoodie running towards him loudly repeating his name. Ruby and Yang helped him get to the truck; they called Neptune and the rest of the band as well as Blake and Weiss. Soon they were all at Yang's house getting Sun cleaned up.

"We should press charges!" Weiss argued.

"What would be the point?" Sun asked. "Cardin's a Winchester; they've got the lawyer back up to make this pointless. Beside's Cardin did it right, he made sure there were no witnesses, and with my past history of foster care it would be my word against his, and my word wouldn't carry the weight his does." Sun sighed as he shifted the ice pack. "It's a pointless endeavor."

"There's nothing worse than an asshole with knowledge of the law," Yang growled.

"Look it's over now, Cardin made his point and he made sure that it's gonna stick. It's done," Sun said again.

Yang just growled and the other band members shared that sentiment.

"I truly regret not ripping his arm off now," Scarlet growled out.

"Guys, don't let him win," Blake said suddenly. "Cardin's just pushing us, trying to get us angry enough to do something, and if we do he wins. Sun's right, as much as it stinks, we need to drop it."

Yang just growled again.

"Does Taiyang know?" Sun asked.

"All we said was something happened. We didn't give specifics," Ruby said as she adjusted the rest of his bandages.

"Sun, why didn't you fight back?" Neptune asked.

"Because that would have just made things worse," he said.

"No you think it would have made it worse, if you don't stand up to someone like Cardin, he'll just walk over you. Sun this isn't like your dad, you can fight back with him."

"It's a fairy tale, when the victim stands up to the bully it just gets worse, Neptune." Sun stood up and went to his room. "I've already been through that."

"Damn it Sun!" Neptune shouted back.

"What did that mean?" Ruby asked.

Neptune shook his head and sighed. "He just gives up! Every time he get's an opportunity to get out from someone's ass like that he just gives up! It's so frustrating," Neptune muttered.

"Neptune, these are Sun's demons, he needs to fight them," Sage said.

"But he doesn't, he just runs. And one day he's gonna run into a wall and he'll just get stuck there, and then all those shadows that were chasing him are gonna crash on him!" Neptune shouted. Weiss felt the tone in his voice it wasn't just a prediction that Neptune spoke from. For Neptune it was experience. "I want to help him, but the guy's gonna have to help himself too."

"Let me talk to him," Blake said. "I might be able to help."

"Go for it, cause all I'm gonna do is smack him upside the head," Neptune said, Weiss managed to calm him down as Blake left. Blake knocked on his door after a moment's hesitation.

"Go away, Neptune."

"Wrong person," she called. She heard Sun sigh and a thud hit the door unlocking it.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sun said as she opened the door.

"That's fine, I understand. I actually had a question about your band."

Sun looked up from his bed hesitant but motioned for her to continue.

"What was the name of that first song we heard you playing?" she asked. She sat down in the chair in his room looking at him laying down.

"I don't even know when you guys showed up, what did it sound like?"

" _I know it's a tragedy/That sometimes people can lose their wings_ , that one."

Sun looked up at her in shock. "Um, it's _Black_ _Box_ by This Beautiful Republic."

"Thanks, I liked that song." She wrote down the song and continued to look over at him.

"Any more that you wanted to know?"

"All of them actually," she said. Sun dug around in his bag for a flash drive and handed it to her.

"Those are all the songs we know, and a couple we're hoping to learn."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"Why are you here?"

"Neptune and the others are really worried about you. But before that I have a question."

Sun just waved at her, telling her to go ahead.

"Neptune mentioned your dad."

"Yeah I kinda forgot you guys were there when we said that."

"If you don't want to tell me, I understand, but they're really worried about you."

"I know they are,"

"They just want to know that you're going to be okay."

"I'll be fine, this is nothing I haven't been through before," he told her.

"That doesn't mean you're okay," she said.

"Yes it does, this stuff doesn't affect me anymore. I'm fine."

"Do you know what fine stands for?"

Sun just shook his head.

"Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional," she said. Sun couldn't help but laugh a bit, despite his ribs.

"I think that's just my general state of life by now," he said in his laughter. "But that could be high school."

"Maybe," she said quietly. "I'll leave you be if you want."

"No," he said quickly. "I can take care of this, but I-."

"There's no but, Sun, either you want help or you can take care of it yourself. And if you really think you can do this by yourself then I'll leave the room right now. But I know that you can't, so I'm going to sit right here."

"Look, Blake I appreciate it, but-."

"But what?" she asked. "There is no but here, Sun, you either need help or you don't. And I know you do."

"I don't need help, Blake." He tried to sit up and argue but he couldn't get himself up quick enough.

"The evidence is stacking against you," Blake said.

"I can take care of myself!" he said.

"But that doesn't mean you have to, Sun."

Sun said nothing and took deeper breaths.

"I don't want to," he finally admitted.

"Then tell me what happened."

XXX

"So what happened?" Taiyang asked, he was home for only a little bit so they tried to explain to him quickly.

"Sun told us Cardin cornered him. But Sun said we can't do anything!" Ruby said in a whine. "But we can right? Qrow's a police officer, we can do something right?"

Taiyang sighed and leaned back. "Unfortunately I don't think we can legally, I'll talk to Qrow but I don't think we can."

"Damn it all!" Yang groaned.

"We'll make sure he gets some rest tonight before he goes back to school," he said. "It was good to meet all of you, but I'll need to get back to work. I'll be home later tonight." Taiyang hugged his girls and left.

"I can give rides to who need them, Sage?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, I'd better get home," he said. "Neptune, David you guys coming?"

"No, I'll stay until Sun comes out, just to make sure."

"My aunt's coming in a couple hours, so I'm good," David said.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you on Monday," he said. The others said their goodbyes and soon Weiss, Ruby, Scarlet and Neptune were in the room.

"Hey, Scarlet, wanna go play KI?"

"Sure why not?"

The two left for Ruby's room and left Weiss and Neptune by themselves.

"I guess you can go if you have nothing to do," Neptune said. "I can catch a ride from Blake if I need to."

"Actually I had a question for you."

Neptune motioned for her to continue.

"When you mentioned the troubles Sun went through, you didn't speak of a prediction. You spoke from experience."

"Not really, I mean, you hear about it-."

"But you went through it, I could tell."

Neptune lost his smile and he went back to a serious face. And it really hit Weiss at how different he was without it.

"It's no big deal," he said.

"It must be to change you like that."

"Well we all have family troubles; I guess that's why we've stuck together, we've all struggled and gone through our own troubles."

"What does that mean for you?"

"It means that now we're doing something better, and I don't need to focus on the bad anymore. I don't _want_ to focus on that anymore."

They looked at each other for a few tense moments.

"How do you not focus on it?" she asked.

"I want to help people, people like Sage, like Sun, Like Scarlet, and anyone who listens to my music. Anything I sing, I want those words to help people. You can't count how many bands scream out the negative, the problems, and the hopelessness that they go through. But how many want to help? All the lyrics I sing, I want them to help people."

"As good a goal as any I suppose," she said. "But how does that help you?"

"Because when I gave up worrying about myself, I found out that I loved helping people."

"How did you give that up?"

"I did something that I knew I needed to do. Just like you need to do," he said.

"I'm sorry?"

"Weiss believe me when I say, that I know when someone is hiding something big from the people their close too. Both from being friends with Sun for years, and from experience," he told her.

"I'm not hiding anything, and you can't prove that I am," she said.

"Besides the fact that you just said you were?" he asked. She glared at him, but he only smirked and shrugged. "Well you drew importance to the fact I didn't know your name, you full expected me to recoil in shock and horror or to instantly despise you."

"So you do know the Schnee's name?"

"Nope, couldn't care less." He stood and handed her a slip of paper with his contact information on it. "I don't need to know what you're going through, I would like to know, but I don't need to. But you need to tell someone."

"No, I don't. This is something I have to go through alone."

"I'd believe you; except that is the exact same thing I told myself two years ago. And it nearly killed me." Neptune rolled up his sleeve and adjusted his bracelet, letting the scar shine in the dimly lit room. "Just think on it."

XXX

"Come on, pick already!" Ruby said impatiently.

"I'm thinkin'!" Scarlet defended as he scrolled frantically through the character select screen.

"Who's your main?"

"I thought it was Spinal, but ya proved me wrong!"

"Who do you want to get better with?"

Scarlet pursed his lips in thought. "I'd love to get better with Hisako."

"Alright, pick her, I'll pick Sabrewulf."

The screen sat in loading while Scarlet gripped his controller tightly. Ruby took a drink and eagerly pressed her buttons waiting for the round to begin.

"Ready," the announcer said. Both teens leaned forward as they dashed around on screen. "Fight!"

Sabrewulf dashed forward into one of Hisako's countermoves but Ruby broke Scarlet's combo before he could do anything with it. Sabrewulf dashed past Hisako and grabbed her, slamming her down and going into a combo. Scarlet tried to break Ruby, but she was ready with a counter-breaker. Scarlet watched in awe as she ran him ragged. Hisako was a counter character and could stop most of Sabrewulf's advances, but Ruby was good enough that she could avoid Hisako and run her meter dry.

"Ultra!" the announcer screamed as Sabrewulf howled. "Supreme victory!"

"You're not human are you?" he asked as Ruby was reduced to manic giggles.

"What?" she asked with a smug grin.

"How often do you play?"

"Now?" she asked, losing her grin. "I play whenever I don't have homework or social activity." She sighed and went back to the main menu, screwing around with dressing her characters up. "Which is all the time now."

"Why?"

"Long story," she said.

"So that means you're not gonna tell me?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Cause you don't wanna hear it, nobody does, 'cept Yang and the others."

"Well, I'm part of the others now, I think."

"Fair enough," she set her arcade stick down and grabbed her drink. "I'm in a long distance relationship with a military kid. We talk when we can, but it's not often. It was okay until a year ago."

"What happened a year ago?"

"My mom died," she said softly. Scarlet's eyes widened and he tried to say something that wasn't stupid.

"I'm sorry." That was incredibly stupid. "What happened?" That was even worse!

"She was finishing her last tour in the Marines, when her convoy was hit by IED's and RPG's."

"Wait, your mum was a Marine?!" he asked.

"Yep, she was a sniper, first-class."

Scarlet was speechless. "Dog's bollocks."

"Yeah, she was a cool woman. She and I actually painted this fight stick when she was on leave a few months before it happened. It's the most valuable thing I own."

"She played video games too?"

"She taught me how to play. We used to play together, I never won. She was good."

"I bet," Scarlet said.

"So after my mom died my social interactions went to zero and I just started playing more and more. We're able to talk once a week but only for about a half hour, and it's nice but-."

"But ya wanted to spend time with 'em, instead of just talkin' long distance?"

"Bingo. I just miss being able to do stuff with someone you like! And it'll get better, but I just don't know when."

"I get that."

"What about you?"

"Well me mum's still in England, she moved back there and we haven't spoken since she left."

"Why?"

"Cause I didn't want to go back, I liked it there but I love it here."

"Why did she leave?"

"Cause my dad died," he said.

It was Ruby's turn to feel awkward.

"He was killed in the line of duty two years ago. I've been living with my aunt since then."

"Well at least your mom's alive, I guess. That's something."

"Yeah, but I don't know 'er anymore. She became someone different after my dad died, she was just bitter 'bout everythin' and didn't want anythin' to do with this place. She disowned me cause I didn't want to go back to England with her."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, doesn't change how I feel though," he said.

"About what?"

"I'm still going to the police academy."

"It's a good choice."

"Yep, that it is," he said as he looked at his watch. "Welp, I've got 'bout 30 minutes. Fancy 'nother round?"

"You're on!"

XXX

Neptune turned just as Blake left the room with Sun in tow. Sun pulled Neptune aside and they began talking as Weiss and Blake sat in the living room alone now.

"Do you need a ride?" she asked.

"Yeah, just down to the 7-11, I'll walk from there."

"Okay," Weiss said. They both rubbed their eyes, obviously weary from the day's events. Blake pulled her laptop open and plugged in the flash drive. She looked over a few of the songs until one caught her eye and started listening to it on her headphones. The driving orchestra behind it caught her ear, and she leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes listening to it.

" _Dear Pain/Oh it's been a long time/Remember when/You were holding me tight/I would stay awake with you/All night. Dear Shame/I was safe in your arms/You were there when it all fell apart/I would get so lost in your beautiful eyes. I let you go/but you're still chasing!_ "

Blake found herself drawn to the lyrics and the singer, even as the song went on, the lyrics seemed to scream right at her. And it just drew her deeper and deeper into the song.

" _Dear Hate/I know you're not far/You would wait at the door of my heart/I was amazed at the passion in your cries. Dear Anger/You made me so high/You were faithful to show up on time/Such a flame/That was burning in your eyes. I let you go/but you're still chasing!_ "

As the bridge ended and the final build started, goose bumps raised on her skin and her eyes started to water. She was entranced with how what the song screamed at her. Trying so desperately to wake her up it seemed.

" _You're tempting me to look back/But everything that we had together was a lie! Go ahead/You're never gonna take me/You can bend/But you're never gonna break me/I was yours/I'm not yours anymore/Whoa You don't own me! Go ahead/Put a target on my forehead/You can fire/But you've got no bullets/I was yours/I'm not yours anymore/Whoa you don't own me!_ "

Blake sat perfectly still as the orchestra played it's final notes, and just was amazed at what the song said to her. She scanned through the others trying to find one that called out to her but she saw Weiss waving her down as she did. "You ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am, sorry."

"Cool, I'll drop you off and then Neptune."

"Okay." She hurriedly packed her bag then turned back to Sun who nodded at her before going back to his room. The ride back was silent as Blake listened to that song over and over again. She bid her goodbyes and stared at the apartment building down the street, it seemed to get farther away the closer she got. Even down to the door. She opened the door quickly and tried to move to her room, but Adam's fist slammed into the wall in front of her. The noise was loud in both her ears and she tried to move away but she was locked down.

"My instructions were clear," he growled.

"I know Adam, but-."

"But what?" he asked forcefully.

"My friend was attacked, they would have gotten suspicious if I just disappeared."

Adam did nothing but sneer, slowly moving his fist away from the wall.

"I did it right, there were plenty of people around, people could account for my actions all the way up here." His face softened slightly, now only having the scowl she knew so well.

"Stay in your room tonight, I have a meeting with a client." Adam turned to leave toward his office.

"Adam, I need to ask you something," she said hurriedly. Adam paused but didn't turn around.

"Make it quick."

"I have something I can do on Wednesday nights, when you have your meetings. I'll be at the bar down by the 7-11, and surrounded by people who can account for my whereabouts. And I won't be here for the meetings, so there's that."

Adam cracked his neck and moved back toward his office. "We'll discuss this later tonight," he growled. "Stay in your room."

Blake nodded. "I understand, Adam."

He moved his head and she bolted to her room. Slamming the door and locking it behind her. She knew that wouldn't stop him, but it gave her some semblance of security. She opened her computer and turned on the keyboard. She tried so desperately to play but she could only weep at her hypocrisy. She hated herself for what she told Sun. She tightened her fists hard enough to draw blood as she wept into her knees.

" _Hello darkness, my old friend,_ " she sang through her tears. " _I've come to talk with you again._ " The song helped her calm down until she could sing with the keys. She abandoned the other song and tried to focus on anything else. " _And the vision that was planted in my brain/still remains/within the sound/of,_ "

Blake paused and listened out toward the window and toward the apartment. The fear that he would break the door down again ever present in her mind as she kept singing the only song that could calm her down. That fear was all she knew now, he was always there. And she knew damn well what would happen if she crossed him again.

" _Silence_ "

XXX

Ruby sat in her room waiting by her scroll, staring intently at the art of the arcade stick. She clung to it in vain hope that her mother would pull her away. She finally looked away from the item as Yang knocked on her door.

"Rubes?" she asked as the door creaked open. "Dinner's about ready."

"Okay, thanks." Ruby sighed and looked down again at the box in her lap. Yang walked in and held her tightly as she did.

"I know it's hard, honey," she said.

"I told Scarlet," Ruby said, interrupting her sister. She pulled away for a moment from shock but couldn't help smile at Ruby's little grin. "It felt good."

"It always does," she said. Ruby put her stick down and walked out with her sister. Sun walked out just as they did and Ruby dashed to hug Sun gently. Sun did the same thing. "Alright, let's eat."

XXX

Scarlet walked through the door and smelled the food cooking before he heard anyone talk.

"David is that you?" his aunt asked.

"Yeah, had an interesting day, sorry I'm late."

"Nonsense, you're just in time," his aunt came out and gave him a bowl of soup. "Sit on down, David; we'll talk about it when we're through eating."

"Thanks," he said. "When's Uncle Peter comin' home?"

"He'll be late tonight, but you'll probably see him before you got to bed."

"Good."

"Are you trying to talk to him about your father?"

"A little yeah," he said.

"Well I don't know if he'll be up to talking about it, but you're certainly welcome to try."

"Well I can still try."

XXX

Weiss crept through her house, trying her best not to wake anyone up. She finally reached the laundry room, and with it, the back door. She usually didn't sneak out like this but Neptune's words kept haunting her. She crept across the back lawn and over a couple fences, hugging her jacket tighter and tighter as the cool wind blew through. She saw the old gates swing open just as she approached the cemetery, as if a cruel joke at her expense. She slipped in and made her way down the narrow alleys between the headstones until she reached the old mausoleum. She pried the door open and finally knelt at the newest addition, a white tomb for the White family.

"Hi Winter."

XXX

 _Ah angst, truly you are a writer's friend. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time._


	4. Falling Star

_I am so sorry for not updating, but my life has been anything but steady lately. It's a miracle that I can even write at all. But I finally got it out and it's not the end, I'm picking up steam again for the story so hopefully I'll be able to finish it up soon. Maybe by July._

 _Anyway, Fostered Sun chapter 4. Enjoy!_

 _XXX_

 _Set list:_

 _So Far Gone by Thousand Foot Krutch_

 _Believe Your Eyes by Nine Lashes_

 _Falling Star by Disciple_

XXX

Weiss sat at the café alone sipping her coffee; it was the only thing keeping her warm at this point. She waited for Ruby and Blake to join her by watching the people go about their lazy Saturday. She was jostled out her daze by Ruby slamming her bag on the table; she clutched her head as she did.

"Ruby, why?" she asked softly.

"You okay?"

"Yes, I just didn't get much sleep last night and I have a bit of a headache."

"I've got some pills if you need them," Blake suggested.

"I'll be fine, the coffee is helping."

"Why didn't you sleep?" Ruby asked.

Weiss shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. "It could have been anything."

"We were pretty stressed last night," Blake said, trying not to draw attention to it.

"Yeah, guess so, but good thing is that we all got to talk to Sun's friends, I had a great time with Scarlet, what about you Weiss?"

Weiss lowered her head and turned away, trying to regain her calm.

"Okay, how was your talk with Sun, Blake?"

"It went well," she said softly, but even she turned away leaving Ruby to stare at the older two with an annoyed face.

"Fine, well Scarlet's awesome, so there!"

The three managed to have more decent conversations until something caught their attentions.

"Isn't that Neptune?" Ruby asked. Weiss snapped her head over and sure enough the bright blue mane of hair bobbed along the sidewalk carrying his back pack and two grocery bags.

"Yes that is, what's he doing here?"

"Idon'tknow," Ruby jumped up on her chair and shouted him down, waving at him. Neptune looked over and waved back before continuing on his way.

"RUBY!" Weiss said harshly. "Get down from there, you dolt!"

"Where's he going?" Blake asked. The three paid for their drinks and rushed after him. They came into view of a building he entered just moments before.

"Can I help you?" an older woman asked.

"Well, we just saw Neptune and we-."

"Oh, perfect, well come on in, we haven't started yet. There's pizza in there for you."

Ruby dashed in at the mention of pizza, leaving a sighing Blake and Weiss to follow. Weiss wasn't sure what she was expecting when the woman mentioned pizza, but she certainly didn't expect it this. The room was filled with about twenty kids roughly their age all conversing, some where huddled around a pool table, others around small tables sipping drinks from plastic cups. Blake saw a few girls she recognized from school, and even Ruby struck up a conversation with a couple of them.

"What is this place?" Weiss asked.

"Uncle Neptune!" Weiss and Blake both turned to see two young boys run up into Neptune's arms.

"How're ya guys?!" he asked. He gave them quick hugs and gave them both bottles from his bag. The woman who appeared to be their mom walked up and hugged Neptune as well. "Hi, Mrs. Alistair thanks for inviting me."

"Thank you for coming, can we talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure thing."

Neptune and the older woman walked away and left the other girls alone. Blake and Weiss were looking around at the group. Some kids were dressed well and others weren't but they all talked to each other calmly.

"Hey there, you two must be new," Blake and Weiss turned to see a green haired girl hold her hand out. "My name's Emerald, what're your names?"

"Weiss," she said as she shook her hand.

"Blake."

"Awesome, well cool you guys are here, so did you see any of the posters or did someone invite you?"

"We came with Neptune," Blake said.

"Oh, so he invited you?"

"No, we just followed him in."

Emerald just laughed. "Well that works too, so I think I saw you two at Beacon right?"

"Yes, we're both juniors," Weiss said.

"That's what I thought."

"So are you a junior too?"

Emerald laughed a bit but shook her head. "I dropped out when Neptune lost his mom so I could work full time here."

Weiss and Blake were both stunned at what they just heard.

"H-he what?"

Emerald narrowed her eyes and smiled a bit.

"I thought you guys said you were Neptune's friend?" she asked.

"He never told us that!" Weiss said harshly.

"Ah," Emerald appeared a bit more nervous. "My bad."

"What is this place?"

"Oh this is the youth outreach center; most of the people here have had pretty rough lives."

"What about you?" Blake asked. Emerald kept her smile but it did take a hit. "I m-mean if you want to!"

"No, it's cool," she nodded and tried to calm Blake down. "I was in an abusive relationship for a few years; I just recently got out when I met Neptune."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Hey don't worry about it; it's all in the past."

There was a commotion as the kids ran back to Neptune, taking them in another hug before making eye contact with Weiss and Blake. He held a small smile as he walked toward them. "Todd, Copper, these are some of my friends. This is Blake and that's Weiss."

"Hi Blake, Hi Weiss!" they said.

"Hey, my other friend Ruby is over there why don't you go say hi to her?"

"OK!" the boys cheered and ran off to go find Ruby.

"So, yeah welcome to my second home, but um, this place isn't exactly the nicest so maybe Blake you should take Ruby home."

"Okay, I will, have fun Neptune."

Soon Weiss was left alone with Neptune as Ruby took a box of pizza with her and Blake.

"This place seems nice," Weiss said calmly.

"Yeah it is."

"Um, how have you been?" she asked.

"Emerald said something didn't she?" he asked with a smirk.

"U-uh, I-."

"Yeah, she did." Neptune couldn't help but laugh. "What did she say?"

Weiss wanted to curl up and die. "She s-said your m-mo-."

"Ah," Neptune nodded and just looked over at Emerald who gave the worst innocent smile in the world.

"You don't have to," she started.

"Well maybe we'll trade." He gave a smirk as he walked toward a bit of a corner.

"Trade what?"

"I'll tell you, you tell me? Sound fair?" he asked.

Weiss again wanted to just run, he cornered her.

"F-fine, but you first!" she said harshly.

"Okay." Neptune's face fell for a moment but he looked back up.

XXX

Neptune's alarm went off again, and he peeled himself off the couch. The whole house still smelled of his mom's 'guests' from last night. He stepped over a few of them on his way to her room, a few of them grumbled and asked for more drinks. He walked to his dresser and saw her still asleep on her bed. Her boyfriend must have already left because she was covered up.

"Mornin' mom," he muttered sleepily. He walked to the bathroom and filled up her glass of water. He shoved the syringes on her nightstand aside and set the glass down. "Today's Wednesday right? It means you've got your job interview today right?" he asked her as he got dressed. "Maybe you'll get hired, and we can get our own place." Neptune looked at his face in the mirror and the hope he had in his eyes was dying, he looked back down on the counter in the bathroom and saw the endless bags of pills. He sighed and kept trying to get ready. "Maybe you'll finally go to rehab and I'll be put in foster care," he muttered.

It was silent again as he dressed and tried to make himself presentable for school. He spent a few more minutes trying to psych back up, he had to be strong for Sun.

"Anyway, come on, I still need a ride to school," he called out. He was about to move out of the room when he saw she still hadn't moved. "Come on, mom. I need a ride." He shook her but she didn't move. "Mom, come on this isn't funny okay? I'm gonna be late." He rolled her over and met her blank stare.

"Mom?!" he called out desperately. Her eyes wouldn't close.

They wouldn't stop staring.

"Mom?!"

XXX

"Neptune, I-," Weiss stuttered out.

Neptune sat with Weiss, both of them sharing a drink. Weiss was paler than she'd ever been, a feat for the young woman, but with what she just heard she could barely believe it. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find words.

"Hey, don't worry about apologizing or nothing, it's all in the past now."

"I-." Weiss shook her head trying to wrap her head around it. "How?" she finally asked.

Neptune raised an eyebrow even with his signature smirk. "How what?"

"How c-can you smile?" she asked, nearing tears of her own.

"Well-."

"It's been t-three years f-for me and I-." Weiss began to breathe heavier and heavier. She closed her eyes but all she could see was white, and it killed her. She choked tears in as she desperately ran from it, but she was all around, lying so perfectly still.

"Weiss!" Neptune called out; she snapped her head up and met his hazel gaze. "Look at me okay, don't focus on that," he said, holding her attention towards him. But the white light crept back into her vision as tears lunged for release in her eyes. She shook her head and tried to move her head down but he kept her gaze. " _I wanna be lost in you,_ " he sang softly. "You know the words right?"

She nodded.

"Then sing with me, _I wanna be lost in you/Like a ship in the night/I wanna be lost in you._ "

" _Underne-ath your s-sky,_ " she said softly. They sang the song together and the white faded away from her. Soon after she had regained her composure, luckily the others were too distracted by the party to really pay attention. "Better?"

Weiss nodded and took a deep breath.

"Listen, I know how painful things like that can be. If you don't want to talk about, I completely understand."

"N-no, you told me so I'll t-tell you." Her own pride was keeping her from running away from him, damn him.

"You don't have to." That just made the whole situation more.

Weiss took a deep breath. "My older si-sister, her name was W-Winter," she started.

Neptune knew where this was going but he let her talk it out. She took a few deep breaths until her hands stopped shaking.

"She was nine and half years older than me, and a tremendous pain in my-. Well you know how siblings are. She was little Miss perfect to everyone else but I knew her for who she was. A little girl who still loved to play with my dolls, and she loved me more than anything in the world." Weiss was starting to tear up but Neptune got her some tissues. "Well, she was in a military school for most of my life, but still made time to be with me anytime she could. We talked on the phone, we emailed each other constantly. She even told me she had a boyfriend a few years ago and how old he was. After she left her academy she got a job at a police station here in Vale where she met him."

"She sounds nice," Neptune said softly.

Weiss nodded. "My family has their hand in a few big businesses as independent contractors. We say that for the masses but sometimes we act as corporate spies, reverse engineers, or corporate lawyers. Not so keen on doing what's right, more on-."

"What makes money," Neptune finished. Weiss gave a dark chuckle.

"Bingo, well there was a man who'd been fired from a company that rivaled one of ours and he found out about it and he-." Weiss couldn't say it; she fought against the tears as hard as she could, and tried to keep her head high.

"Who else knows?" Neptune asked.

"I told Ruby last year when her mother died, because I knew she needed to have someone who understood her, but no one else does. I still pretend she's alive for other people."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want people to be afraid of my name," she admitted. "Winter was attacked because of her name, and I lost the closest friend I had because she had the same last name as a corporate spy."

"That's why you liked that I didn't know your name," he told her.

Weiss nodded.

Neptune smiled at her even as she tried to compose herself. "I'm proud of you."

She turned slowly and looked over at him, still smiling. "F-for what?"

"For telling me, that takes courage."

Weiss didn't say anything but nodded.

"Well now that we're both here, howsabout we go to that new coffee place?"

Weiss looked up and saw his stupid smile, but she also saw how real he was. He really didn't care. He wasn't scared.

"Sure, my treat?" she asked.

"Well then it wouldn't be a date would it?" he asked.

Oh boy. This was it. Weiss thought hard about how to answer it.

"I don't want you getting hurt," she said softly. Neptune grew a look of confusion. "Winter died because of my name, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Let me ask you a question," he said. "Do you think being happy is worth the risk of getting hurt?"

Weiss thought for a moment but nodded.

"Then it's my treat."

XXX

"Seriously, it's no big deal," Sage said.

"Normally I'd argue about equality and chivalrous bullshit, but honestly I'm more concerned that I ordered the biggest and most expensive burger," she said leaning back in her chair. The remains of the burger lay on her plate with a few spare fries that Sage picked off of.

"And you finished it. I'm impressed."

"I feel guilty now, how much was that?"

"I don't know, and honestly I don't care."

"I feel good!" Yang said, lifting her hands in victory.

"I bet, howsabout dessert?"

"Bring it on!"

The both of them ordered their desserts and kept up their conversations.

"So I've gotta ask, are you and Ruby biological sisters?"

"Yes, but we're only half-sisters," she said, sipping on her milkshake.

"I see, that must have been hard," Sage said.

"Not really, my mom left just after I was born, so for most of my life Summer was my mom."

"Is Summer Ruby's mom?"

"Yeah, she was," she said softly.

Sage was quiet for a moment as he absorbed it. "Sorry."

"Ain't your fault you didn't know about it," she said.

Sage elected it was better not to ask. "So when did you meet Ruby?"

"When she was born, she's only two years younger than me."

"She seems nice, for as little as I've known her."

"Yeah, she is."

"What about your mom? What was she like?"

"Wish I could tell you," she grumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-."

"It's fine, s'not like I'm bitter or anything," she said bitterly.

"Right," Sage said, trying to hide a chuckle.

"My dad won't tell me why she left but at this point I don't care. I tried looking her up when I was younger but I gave up when Summer died."

"Why'd you give up?"

"Because I don't care anymore, if she doesn't have the decency to talk to me then I don't care."

"It sounds like you do care," he said.

Yang sighed and stirred her milkshake, staring into it. "Of course I do, why did she leave me? I think about it all the time, but I don't have any answers."

"I wish I could say I understand," he said.

"Thanks anyway."

"So what does Taiyang do?"

"He works at the D.A."

"That's cool," Sage said.

"Yeah." She hadn't looked up from her milkshake.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he said.

"You didn't, it's just-." Yang paused and pulled her wallet from her pocket, and pulled out a picture. A young black-haired woman in a hospital gown looked at the camera with both a smile and tears in her eyes as she held a young child. "That's the only thing I have of her, she left before I turned one."

"I'm sorry."

"I just want answers," she said.

"I understand that," Sage replied.

"Look I didn't mean to turn this into a downer, sorry."

"You didn't," he said earnestly. "I'm learning more about you aren't I?"

Yang smiled and nodded. "Guess you are."

The two finished their desserts but didn't really have any other plans for the day so they walked around town, going in and out of shops and having fun. Soon though it was getting dark and he elected to walk her home.

"Remember what I said about chivalrous bullshit?" she asked.

"Chivalry isn't a bad thing!" he defended.

"You don't _need_ to do anything for me, just because I-."

"It isn't a case of me _needing_ to do anything, it's the fact that I want to."

"Why?"

"Well a couple of reasons: number one it's so ingrained in me from four generations of military that you treat everyone with the respect you'd treat your C.O. that I just do it anyway, secondly you are someone that I care about and I'll do anything I can to make you feel special."

Yang just raised her eye brow. "What's that mean?"

"It means I want my girlfriend to feel like the most important person in the world."

"Well I already feel like that," Yang said with a smirk.

"Then you just make my job easier."

"By the way, who said I was your girlfriend?" she asked.

"Well call me optimistic," he said.

"I'll call you a dork."

"That works too."

XXX

"I'm serious! I think you'd really like the game, you like fantasy stories right?" Ruby asked as they got to her house. Blake was always a bit envious of her Ruby, of her complete and utter happiness, despite her situations. It was endearing to say the least.

"I trust you, but I don't play video games all that much," Blake said. That wasn't entirely a lie, she just didn't have anything to play or play on. She'd like to learn, she liked watching Ruby play her fighting games, but she just didn't have anything.

"Well then it's perfect to learn! Skyrim is really fun! Khajit has wares for you!" she said in a silly voice.

Blake just cocked her eyebrow. "Really?"

"What?" she asked. "You can take your bow off, you know?"

"I know," Blake sighed. "But-."

"Besides they're so frickin' cute!"

"Yeah," she said as she rolled her eyes. Ruby fumbled around for her keys and walked in to see Sun with his guitar and headphones on.

" _Can anybody say/You won't believe your eyes/A stranger to me/You won't believe your eyes,_ " he sang quietly as he played. Blake and Ruby just watched him play occasionally moving sheets of music around with his tail. " _The sounds/Of color streaming down/Is inches from the heart I hear/If I could just let it in/Can anybody say/You won't believe your eyes_." He stopped suddenly and pulled his headphones out, making corrections on his sheet music with his pencil. He leaned back and played with the pencil in his tail as he thought. " _A stranger to me/You won't believe your eyes._ "

Blake and Ruby were both surprised at how effectively they'd stayed quiet. At least until Ruby stepped to the side, letting the floor creak. It earned her a flying pencil and Sun leaping up and immediately putting his tail around his waist.

"S-sorry," he said clutching his head. "I didn't know you were there."

"It's alright," Ruby said. "That sounded so cool though! Who was that?"

"That was _Believe Your Eyes_ by Nine Lashes."

"Awesome!" she said. "Oh I've got that thing for Scarlet, I'll go get it!" She ran off and left Blake and Sun alone again, both standing nervously.

"Y-you don't have to hide your tail away."

"It's okay, it's just habit," he said.

"Well I like it, I think it's cool."

"Thanks," he said. He grabbed his guitar again and kept playing for a few more moments; Blake sat across from him watching in wonder. "You know you've got a good voice."

"I've never had a place to use it," she admitted.

"We've always got an opening."

"I'll think about it," she said. Ruby dashed back in a few moments later with her flash drive.

"Here ya go! These are all the songs I want to learn!"

Sun took the flash drive and plugged it into his computer. Blake and Sun were sort of shocked to hear the driving melodic metal she was listening to. "Angel Vivaldi?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's amazing! This is _A Mercurian Summer_ , it's one of my favorites. He's playing all the instruments in these songs!"

"Does he sing?"

"No, they're all instrumentals, I don't like the screaming but I like the music."

Sun listened to the full song and unplugged it. "I'll give it Scarlet if I see him first, but I think it might be better if you do it."

"Okay, well I'll get that game set up for you Blake!" Ruby dashed off, leaving Sun and Blake alone again. Sun kept playing that song on his guitar as Blake watched in silence.

"So do you play any other instruments?" Blake asked.

"Not really, I know a little bit about bass and drums but guitar is my main instrument. What about you?"

"Well I learned to sing a little bit when I was younger and I play piano."

"Really?" Sun snapped his eyes up excitedly. "You play keys?"

"Yes," Blake said slowly.

"How well, like can you read music or do you play by ear?"

"A bit of both, but I can read music. Why?"

Sun whipped his guitar off and grabbed his scroll. "Cause Sage has wanted a key player for the last year, he can play keys but he wants to keep playing guitar."

"You really want me in your band don't you?"

Sun looked away and focused back on his scroll. "I mean, I just thought you'd enjoy it."

"Maybe I would," Blake said quietly. "But I think you're just looking for excuses."

"Yeah, whatever."

"You know you've got a good voice too, I'm sure Neptune would appreciate the help."

"I'm not near good enough to compare," Sun said.

"But you're still good; you guys could use that if you wanted."

"Maybe," Sun said softly. "We could also use a female singer."

"Maybe," she echoed.

The two were quiet again as Sun just kept playing his guitar.

"So, uh, what game are you playing?"

"Hmm?"

"Ruby said you were playing a game, what game?"

"Oh, I think she called it Skyrim. She said I'd enjoy it."

"You will, it's fun."

"You play?"

"Sometimes, when I'm not busy. I'll admit it's a total time waster though."

"Maybe I need a few more of those," she said softly.

"So you listened to all those songs right? Any one you really liked?"

"Well that 'you don't own me' song was really good."

"Yeah, it's just so on point!" Sun said happily. "But we need a key player for that too."

"Why?"

"Sage has a program that can play loops, like orchestral parts in that one, but we need a key player to write them out for us."

"What would that need?"

"Well Sage uses Garageband on his computer."

"I think I have that, so what you just put the loops through that?"

"Yeah basically, but we'd need to transpose it to Neptune's range."

"That's what only a half step higher isn't it?"

"The songs at a concert B, but we need it at a concert D because Neptune can't sing that low."

"But you could," Blake suggested.

"Not while playing, I'm not that talented."

"Yet," she said. "I think I have that program, do you want me to give it a shot?"

"If you want to you could," he said. "Did you like any others?"

"I really liked that song 'we all wanna be somebody' song, who was that?"

"It's _Be Somebody_ by TFK, we all like TFK so any song they put out we're all over. Neptune and Scarlet want to learn some of their new ones but I don't have them yet." They were quiet again expect for the notes from Sun's guitar. "I have a few songs that I really want to learn, but Neptune can't really sing them so I just play them by myself."

"Sing me one," Blake said. Her little grin was back and Sun noticed.

"Why?" he asked, trying to defer her from it.

"Because I want to hear it."

Sun sighed and started playing a different song. " _Sleeping with your eyes/Wide open but closed inside/Where light and darkness both are blinding/To know they'll lure you out/Painted with a brush of night/That never has a happy ending/Decisions will make you or break you/Don't let them pull away._ "

Blake listened to him and watched his fingers ghost over the strings as he did. He made it seem effortless, even though he wouldn't look her way.

" _Made a wish upon a falling star/Ran so fast you don't know where you are/Wake up, friend/It's just one life/It's not too late/Your ride is far from over._ "

Blake was mesmerized by him playing, even more so when he leaned in toward her and she mirrored his actions. They were closer now then they'd ever been and Blake started to notice as she felt the blood flow deeper into her face. The blush only worsened when he met her eyes and kept playing and singing to her.

" _Medicate away/Every nightmare that you create/If it falls short then try another/Doesn't God see this/Wonder he won't/Throw the switch/He's asking you the same questions/Decisions will make you or break you/Don't let them pull away._ "

" _Made a wish upon a falling star/Ran so fast you don't know where you are/Wake up friend/It's just one life/It's not too late/Your ride is far from over/Far from over!_ "

They sat in silence with the echoing resolutions bouncing between them, neither one of them saying anything. Part of her was wondering why she was feeling so nervous, even though nervous was a perfect way to feel right now, especially when she realized that they were both leaning towards each other. Blake's heart was beating a thousand times a minute, and it only escalated as Sun drew closer. But Sun was feeling just the same as he moved toward her, it was quiet as they grew closer.

Until Ruby crashed from her hiding spot and landed loudly on the floor. "Dang it!" she squeaked and stood up quickly to find the two as far apart as the chairs in the room would allow, both red faced and not making eye contact. "Uh, well t-the game's ready Blake."

"Kay," she said as she bolted away. Sun shook his head and tried to clear it, setting his guitar to the side and leaning back with his hands behind his head. He stayed like that even when Yang came back.

"What's with you?" she asked.

"Wish I could tell you," he answered back.

XXX

"Okay, so I'll tell you what each character does and then I'll let you go," she said as she handed Blake the controller. Ruby couldn't help but giggle when she noticed how awkwardly the device sat in her hands.

"So what do you think I should play?"

"Well, you're kind of a sneaky person right?"

Blake inwardly cringed. "I guess, well what do you play?"

"Pfft, I play everything; I've got like 80 save files. Yang plays berserkers, and the one time I tried to get Weiss to play she tried to play a mage."

"So I'll play a sneaky character," she decided. "What's the difference between the races?"

"Well some races are naturally better at different things, there's the Nords who have better defense and cold resistance, there are the different kind of Elves, there's-."

" _That_ is a Khajit?" she asked looking at the cat person with a hint of a glare.

"Yeah! They can see in the dark and they-." Ruby stopped and her face began to fell. "I m-may have just realized why you asked like that."

Blake couldn't help but laugh at her friend's nervousness, even going so far as to take off the bow. "Better?" she asked sarcastically.

"I think they're adorable!" Ruby said as she smiled. "You don't have to hide around us, or Sun for that matter."

Blake sighed as she tied the bow back and twitched as the dull ache came back. "It's not as simple as I'd like it to be Ruby."

"Well then maybe you can tell me why, we've known each other for a few years now. Why isn't it easy?"

Blake felt her whole body tighten and her hands started to drift toward her back at the mere thought.

"Either that or admit you like Sun and that you two _totally_ weren't about to start making out."

The thoughts fled from her mind and her face flushed deep red. "RUBY!"

"What, come on I'm not stupid! You two were like half a foot away from each other! I mean jeez if I hadn't tripped on my way to see you I'd have walked in on something way worse!"

Blake finally just curled up and covered her eyes, shaking her head and biting back the curses she wanted to throw at the young woman. "Ruby, just drop it okay, it's nothing."

"That wasn't nothing, that was a scene straight out of those books you read."

"It _was_ nothing, nothing will happen. And how do you know?!"

"Hey you left it here, and I was bored."

"You shouldn't be reading those," Blake said quietly.

"Whatever," Ruby answered, looking back at the depiction of Blake on the screen. "Really goin' with a Nord?"

"It seemed fun," she defended.

"Hey it looks good, so now we get to the good part."

XXX

"OH come on, right at the good part?!" Yang asked, she had been absentmindedly stirring the stew she was making as Sun depicted his afternoon.

"Yeah, but what does that mean for us? I didn't think she actually liked me like that, I thought it was just me."

"Did you react or did you initiate?"

"I'm not sure, I just noticed we both were leaning in and then Ruby crashed in. Literally," he muttered.

"I think you can go for it!" Yang said.

"Seriously?"

"Look if she was acting the same then that means she feels the same, it wouldn't hurt to ask."

Sun sighed and finished cleaning up his guitar. "I don't want to mess anything up, she seems really nice and I don't want to make it awkward for you two."

"Please, nothing is awkward for me! I think you should still try."

"I don't know."

"What's holding you back?" Yang watched as he thought and then as the realization grew on his face.

"I think I know."

XXX

"Nothing happened, Adam," Blake said in a sigh. There was a partial truth in that, but she knew he didn't really care. It was early enough in the day she couldn't get in trouble for being out at night.

"Fine," he said as he moved back toward his office. "I need you out of the apartment Wednesday. I don't want you there until my meeting is over."

"I understand, I have somewhere I can be."

"Where?"

"The bar down by the 7-11, I can't remember the name."

"The Crowbar?"

"Yes, I'll be there. So will a lot of people, and they will be able to confirm my whereabouts."

"Good. What are your plans tonight?"

"Staying in my room," she said. That was the correct answer.

"Good," he left after that. She watched him walk into his office and keep working, he left her alone for the most part so that was a blessing. She spent all that time working on her project, headphones on so she wouldn't disrupt Adam. The strings behind the song were easy enough to transpose to the other key, but it was transcribing them into the program that was the hard part. She must have listened to the song a thousand times. Each time the same line played for her.

" _You don't own me_."

Blake loved listening to the line, the whole song even. It drowned out the other song for her, and it helped that she could hear Neptune and Sun singing it, it made it even louder.

"What are you doing?" he asked, loud enough to get past her headphones. She jolted from her daze and met his stare, just as she did the line played.

" _You don't own me_."

"P-playing music."

Adam stared at her but didn't say anything, she felt the ball in her stomach growing but as he stared at her the song kept playing and it just seemed to match up with how she really felt.

" _You don't own me_."

Adam nodded and began to leave. "Just keep yourself occupied, I won't be home until Wednesday morning."

Blake's eyes widened, he'd be gone for nearly two days. "Why?"

"Work, I'll be back Wednesday."

Blake felt her heart skip at the revelation. If he wasn't home, she didn't have to be either. She could spend that time with Ruby, or Yang, or Weiss, or Sun.

"Keep a low profile until then, minimum exposure."

" _You don't own me_."

"I understand, Adam," she said.

"Good, sleep well." He put on a good act.

"You too."

Blake sat awake simply enjoying her newfound freedom. Even if it was for only for a few days, he didn't have to know.

" _You don't own me_."

XXX

Blake sat at the lunch table as she usually did, sipping her tea and reading her book. Even as the others joined she wasn't too motivated to abandon her book, especially since she had just gotten to the best part. The talk around the table was much the same even with the additions of Sun's friends. Ruby and Scarlet talked video games, Yang and Sage talked fighting, and Neptune actually had Weiss in a debate of the music business and was holding his own. But Sun wasn't there.

"Where is he?" Yang asked finally.

"Don't know, he shouldn't usually be this late," Scarlet said.

"I'm sure he's fine, maybe he's just talking to a teacher."

At that moment Sun walked in and walked past all of them, straight towards Cardin's table. Cardin took notice and grew a nasty little smile.

"Well lookee here, it's the little run-a-way," Cardin said as he stood up. Despite his efforts to appear imposing, Sun didn't look fazed.

"Cute."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" he asked.

"No but I'm about to."

"What?"

Sun quickly pushed Cardin's arm aside, pulling it back and putting Cardin's nether regions in a death grip. Cardin's eyes grew wide and he fought to breath under the grab.

"Here's the thing: you had your fun on Friday, but that was all you'll get. You mess with me, my family or my friends again and I'll make sure that what happens to _these_ ," he accentuated the word with a quick squeeze of his hand.

"Please don't," Cardin squeaked out.

"It's gonna need a power-washer to clean of the sidewalk. Am I clear?"

Cardin tried to nod or make an affirmative noise but couldn't.

"Am I clear?" Sun asked again.

"Yes, you are."

Sun let go and straightened Cardin back up. "Good, now quit singing soprano."

Cardin resumed breathing and his friends couldn't say anything as Sun walked off calm as could be. Blake and the others could only watch in shock even as Yang fell to the floor laughing harder than she ever had. Sun earned a standing ovation from most of the cafeteria even as he left. Only Blake and Ruby noticed the wink he gave Blake before he left.

"Really, nothing will happen, eh?"

Blake smiled and played it off as calm as she could but inside her heart was fluttering. She'd read enough of her books to know what she was feeling, and it both scared her and excited her.

"Hey Ruby, can I come over and play that game again?" she asked.

" _You don't own me._ "

XXX

 _Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time._


	5. Best In Me

_So good news! I'm no longer homeless!_

 _Yeah so part of the reason why it took me so long to update was because from April to just two weeks ago of this year I was living in my jeep with my mother and my dog. All the chapters you guys had read in between then were prewritten and were uploaded whenever I could go to the library. But I now have a place to live, glory be to God on that!_

 _Now I'll try to keep updating everything more regularly now, but no promises, my schedule is still super crazy. But until then, enjoy chapter five!_

 _XXX_

 _Set list:_

 _A Mercurian Summer by Angel Vivaldi (Instrumental)_

 _Intro by NF_

 _Running With Giants by Thousand Foot Krutch_

 _Best In Me by Sent By Ravens_

"So have you been playing recently?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah, I got the season three update and I've been grinding non-stop. I think now that I've gotten better with Rash and Tusk, I'll be able to stand a chance," Sage said as they sat at around the drum set and fiddled with their instruments.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Scarlet said.

"Why's that?"

"Cause I've been playin' her online since she updated. She never plays the same character twice in a row, but she's damn good with all of them."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, ya know how I'm good with Spinal?"

"Yeah he's your main, has been since Season one."

"She destroyed me, as Aganos and as Kim-Wu, and as Kan-ra, and as Hisako, and as Glacius, and as Cinder, and as Thunder, and as Arbiter, and as Sabrewulf, she's gonna wreck you."

"Damn it," Sage muttered as he put his head down. Scarlet just laughed even as the rest of the band showed. Sun just sighed and put the flash drive on the table.

"That's for you," Sun said.

"What is it?"

"That's Ruby's music, the songs she wants to learn."

Scarlet pulled out his computer and let the first song play, Neptune and Sage did a physical double take as the song played.

"She wants to learn Angel Vivaldi?! That's amazin'!" Scarlet laughed as he listened and shut off his computer. "This is why I love hangin' out with her! Cause I'm never right!"

"What do you mean?" Sage asked.

"Every single thing I've assumed 'bout her, has been dead wrong. Like completely wrong. By now it's just sort of a curiosity of how I'll be wrong again."

"You'll say that, but you won't admit she's crushing on you?"

"Cause she ain't."

"Yeah right, she totally is!" Neptune said. "She hangs around you like a puppy!"

"We're mates! That's it, 'sides she's got a LDR, with a military kid."

"Yeah what's his name, George Glass?" Sage asked.

"Look, she's helpin' me get with Velvet who she knows that I like."

"But in the background she'll wanna to be with you, I would bet money on it."

"Twenty quid, right now!" Scarlet said.

"You're on!" Sage said shaking his hands.

"What the heck, I'm in too," Neptune agreed.

"You wanna join in too, Sun?"

"Nope, she's my little sister. You guys have fun."

"How have you been wrong before?" Neptune asked.

"Well first off her grade, I thought she was a freshman, not skipped ahead two years."

"But she looks like a freshman," Neptune said.

"Alright then her mum, who was a First-Class Marine sniper?"

"Okay that's badass but not exactly somethin' you'd assume anyway," he argued.

"Her KI skills?"

"Can't really argue that," Sage muttered.

Ruby walked in this time and held her new stick bag tightly as she skipped over. "Did Sun show you the music I want to learn?"

"Yeah, Little Red, interesting choice."

"I really like him, plus it helps that he's kinda hot."

Scarlet chuckled and moved off the drums. "Tell ya what, play me something"

Ruby looked kind of nervous. "Really?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Just play."

Ruby sat down and pulled out her sticks, looking around kind of nervously. She finally pulled her headphones out and started playing the song. She was nervous, not wanting to hit too hard or be too loud at first. But as the song picked up, so did she. She was still nervous and it wasn't perfect. But she definitely had skills and it was plain to Scarlet and Neptune. But none of the boys were prepared for the woman suddenly sneaking behind Ruby, who put a finger to her lips to them. The cymbals crashed loudly as she finally stopped playing, leaning on her knees and panting.

"How, was th-." Ruby was shocked by the hands across her eyes.

"Guess who," the voice sang out.

"Yang, not funny," she said in a pout.

"Nope," the woman said. Ruby was shocked and had to think. "Hurry and I'll tell you good news."

"Well you're not Blake, and Weiss would never do this. Um," Ruby sat thinking as the woman just continued to laugh.

"Let me give you a hint," she said softly. "Sal-uta-tions!"

Even from behind the woman's hands Ruby's face of shock was clear to the boys, who still had no idea what was going on. "PENNY?!" Ruby tried to jerk around and fell off the drum throne, but bounced back up and hugged the woman tightly. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, that's the other part of my good news." The woman pulled apart and smiled. "I'm here until we graduate, I convinced my father to let me stay here while he traveled. I'm here Ruby."

Ruby's eyes were filled with tears as she smiled bigger than she ever had before. "Y-you're-."

The woman smiled and nodded. Ruby couldn't control herself, she lunged out and kissed the woman deeply. When they finally broke off, Ruby couldn't let her go and Penny it seemed didn't mind. The two broke away and continued to laugh as Ruby tried to calm herself down.

"I was unaware you played drums, Ruby, you sounded amazing. And who are your friends?"

"NO! Screw them, you're mine for now! We're going on a date!" Ruby practically picked Penny up and carried her away as she laughed.

"I guess I'll meet you later then," she called out to the guys who were all still a bit surprised.

Sage and Neptune just pulled the money quietly from their wallets and handed it to Scarlet, who just told them to keep it. He was wrong again.

XXX

"What you didn't know that?" Blake asked.

"No, I mean, it was a bit of a shock," Sun said honestly. They were making their way to the bar for this week's practice.

"Odd, I swear I told you, or maybe I told someone else," she said as she held the door open for Sun, who was carrying his guitar and amp in. Yang finally caught the door and stopped the two of them and pointed to the stage. Sage was there by himself with a microphone and odd music going off in the background. It was quite piano and choral music, but it was building to something. The others watched carefully as the music came to its crescendo and hung there.

" _I'm looking like I'm gonna get/You probably don't get it/I come in your house with a microphone/Looking like I'm bout a set up a show in your kitchen/I'm outta my mind but I feel like I'm in it/If I never make it/Don't make any difference/I'm still gonna kill it/You know what the deal is/Ain't never no chillin'/When I'm in the building/Old Sage is a monster/I am a villain/My music is sick and you don't know what ill is/You better get back/I don't write any filler/I write what I feel/And I'm feeling a million so you better/Shh, be quiet you hear it/I'm bout ta lose it/I'm a whole different level of music/Don't treat me like I have clue how ta do this/You better rethink what your thinking and move it/Now picture me writing when I was a kid/Tryin' ta make it music I thinkin' it's crazy/I spent all my money on studio time tryin' ta get out my music so people could play/Imma keep it 100 my music was terrible learned to get better the more that I made it/Go back to my Flyer days/Most of you people, you probably don't know what I'm saying/HOLD UP!_ "

They watched intently, the entire band and the girls, as Sage did what he did. He bounced around on stage, held the mic in a death grip and just went all out. He went as hard as he could.

" _What you witnessin now/Don't try to figure me out/I grab on that microphone, dropping the crowd, they was laughing at me who they laughing at now, HUH?!/I laugh at myself/Some people they lookin' like wow/The moment you told that you was a rapper I couldn't believe it/You believe it now?!_ "

Sun and Neptune almost went out there but Yang stopped them, he was still going. The skill was evident, as was effort he was putting into it. He screamed out certain parts, put all the breath he had in his lungs into some stretches of lyrics. And all the time he was a showman, he did it well.

" _Step in the booth and I murder it/You never heard of a rapper that kill it like I do/I sleep on the couch of the studio/Stay up till 3 in the mornin and write till I give up/The moment I wake I feel like I don't even sleep and I'm ready to put out my record/Thank you for buying it/Maybe you burned it/But either way Im gonna wreck it!_ "

There was a pause as a small 8-bit man yelled out the "wreck it" line, over and over while Sage took deep breaths.

" _I look at the industry/Look what it did to me/You'll never make it if you never grind/You put a whole lotta money into this/You better be ready to give it your time/I look at the past few years of my life and I promise you/I have been giving it mine/Try to keep up with this/I'm not a puppet/No strings on my back/I'm one of a kind._ "

Sage finally stopped the recording, he was panting furiously and sweating just as much. He took a big drink of water and sat down on his computer, the song could be heard as he adjusted timing and the tracks behind him. He finally closed down his computer and pulled out his guitar when Neptune finally rounded the corner with wide eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" Sage asked. "You okay?"

"Where was that?!" Neptune asked with a smile, he was bouncing around happily. "We could have been using that!"

"Excuse me?"

"No strings on my back? Is that what that's called? Cause we'll use it!"

Sage grew uncomfortable when he realized what Neptune was talking about. "Look, you guys I know that-."

"I mean, Scarlet can give you the beat from behind and I'll definitely play the bass line."

"Wait," Sage said, stopping Neptune. "You guys said you didn't want to try Rock/Rap."

"No I said _I_ didn't want to try it, cause I'm lucky I can play bass and sing at the same time. I can't rap, I didn't think any of us could! But now you can! P.O.D. covers here we come!" he said happily.

"You want to try that? All of you?"

"Duh, I'll play it!" Scarlet said with a smirk.

"I'd give it a shot," Sun said.

"Write up what songs you guys want to cover now; we'll need a whole new list. Oh this is gonna be epic!" Neptune pulled out his binder and flipped through.

"Does this mean we can do our rap/breakdown/solo thing now?" Scarlet asked.

"Sky's the limit man!" Sun said.

The girls sat back and watched them talk for what must have been an hour, but it all ended when Yang stood up triumphantly.

"Boys, play me a song!" she said happily. They band looked at each other with a bit of shock.

"Why?" Sun asked.

"Cause I'm bored, and I want to hear something before I leave."

The band shrugged and they mounted up. "Can we try _Running With Giants_?" Scarlet asked.

"I don't know, we haven't tried that yet," Sage said.

"Well no time like the present," Scarlet said as he twirled his sticks.

Scarlet pounded on his kick and toms for a few notes then Sun took over, the driving rhythm was something new and the girls took notice. Even as Sage and Sun played the same thing, they were tightly knit and didn't stray from the phrase. Neptune played a more complicated line at the start but he broke off when he got up to the mic.

" _I can be stupid/But not outrageous/I can be sickness/But not contagious/I can be empty/But I'm not nameless/It's the way that you love me, the way that you love me/I can be patient/But I'm not waiting/I can be shook up/But I'm not shaken/I can angry/But I'm not jaded/It's the way that you love me, the way that you love me!_ "

The whole band shifted as they got the pre-chorus, there was a build and the girls could tell.

" _I am not alone here/I'm not on my own here/I am not alone/I'm not on my own/CAUSE I AM_."

When the chorus hit, it hit hard. All the girls felt the goose bumps raise on their skin and the music melded into their souls.

" _Running with Giants/Everywhere I go/It's an unspoken alliance/So I can just let go/I've been Running with Giants/Everywhere I go/It's an unspoken alliance/So I can just let go!_ "

The song continued, picking up the driving rhythm from the start and letting the boys reset themselves. Blake smiled, the motif of the song was cool and it really did fit for them. The girls collectively agreed, it was almost a theme song for them.

" _I can be outraged/But not a traitor/I can be distant/But I'm no stranger/I am a target/But without danger/It's the way that you love me, the way that you love me/I can be strong but/Not without weakness/I can be helpless/ But not defeated/I can be cut deep/But I'm not bleeding/It's the way that you love me, the way that you love me!_ "

Blake watched as Sun grabbed the other mic with his tail and helped Neptune on the pre-chorus.

" _I am not alone here/I'm not on my own here/I am not alone/I'm not on my own/CAUSE I AM_."

Again when the chorus hit it felt like a wave crashed over them, due in no small part to the unity of the band on the first hit making such a big impact.

" _Running with Giants/Everywhere I go/It's an unspoken alliance/So I can just let go/I've been Running with Giants/Everywhere I go/It's an unspoken alliance/So I can just let go!_ "

Sun and Neptune looked at each other for a moment in silent communication and left Neptune to sing the first part of the bridge.

" _And I feel/The pressure of ten men/When the floor cracks and/The walls start moving in/I feel/The strength that's from within/Kickin' down the doors and walls/We're comin' in_."

Next Sun joined in offering another voice.

" _And I feel/The pressure of ten men/When the floor cracks and/The walls start moving in/I feel/The strength that's from within/Kickin' down the doors and walls/We're comin' in!_ "

" _Running with Giants/Everywhere I go/It's an unspoken alliance/So I can just let go!"_

The song ended and the band nodded.

"That went better than I was expecting," Sage said.

"Agreed, I really like that song."

"Well what did you expect it's TFK?"

"Yeah but, remember the first time we tried to play _War of Change_?" Neptune asked as he peeled his bass off and grabbed his binder again.

"That wasn't fair, I clicked in my delay pedal wrong."

"But we just train wrecked everywhere," Sage agreed. "It was funny though."

"Oh no doubt."

The conversation was broken up by Yang clapping, they turned to see her and met the eyes of half a dozen extra people. "I told you there were good," Yang said to the people behind her.

"You said they were good, you didn't say they were that good," the large man said. He was similar to Sage in build and he was taking notes on the song. "You can keep your favor, Yang. These guys are good."

"Well I appreciate it," she said.

"What's all this?" Scarlet asked.

"Well this is Yatsuhashi Daichi, his dad owns a studio next town over, he's gonna get you guys some studio time. This is Coco Adel, she does fashion work so she'll get your guys' wardrobe taken care of for your music video."

"I like the pirate motif the drummer has, but I'm not so sure about the bass player," she said, pushing her glasses down to look at them.

"Hey!"

"This is Fox Alistair, I think Neptune knows him, and you all know Velvet Scarlatina! They'll be doing the camera and direction work for your music video. And Nora is borrowing her dad's van so we can go to the location Ruby found! Then Ren will be doing editing work and promotion materials! And Jaune's dad is friends with the owner of the bar, he talked the guy into letting you guys do a show next month. I've already got you guys signed up and Pyrrha's working with her basketball team to help with spreading the word and posters. Don't worry I took care of all of it, any questions?"

"Yeah, first off what the heck are you talking bout?" Scarlet said suddenly.

"When did all this happen?!" Sage asked.

"This weekend!" she said happily.

The others kept conversing leaving the stage agape in shock.

"Oh and Blake you'll be playing piano for them!" Yang said.

"WHAT?!" she asked, now joining in the shock.

"Where did you get the money for this?!" Sun asked.

Weiss stood and smiled at Neptune, turning into a smirk as she joined Yang.

"Made some _subtle_ connections," she said.

"Look guys," Neptune said as he hopped of the stage. "We appreciate the effort, we really do. But this-. I mean, we-. We don't even have a name for the band!"

"Oh don't worry about that, Blake took care of that!"

"Stop doing that!" Blake said as the eyes all turned to her, she was red-faced and desperate to run away. "I c-called you guys, _Fostered Sun_ , b-but spelled like his name."

The band stopped and looked at each other.

"Shite, that's really clever," Scarlet admitted.

"Yeah, I know I like it too," Sage said. The others nodded.

"So we've got it all figured out!" Yang said.

They talked with each other again, leaving the others out. "We'll have to write more original stuff," Sun said.

"I've me binder, it's got some stuff, but only like six songs. And I don't have music for 'em yet."

"Scarlet, let me see it, I'll put it with some of my songs, and I'll use garage band to get it started," Sage offered.

"We'll make copies for all of us and compare notes, how about we all meet Wednesday's and Saturday's until we get this settled?" Neptune asked.

"Fair enough," Sun said. "Wait," he pushed the guys out of the way. "What song are we doing for the video?"

"We were wanting you to do the _Untraveled Road_ song, or maybe that song you just did. But it's your guys call," Yang said.

"How did you rope all these people into this?" Sage finally asked.

"Well Yatsu owes me a favor but he's doing this of his own volition after seeing you guys, Coco owes me like six and I'm calling in one, Velvet offered and volunteered cause she likes you guys, Fox needs the exposure for his portfolio, Nora likes you guys as much as we do and Ren needs the practice for his career. Jaune and Pyrrha volunteered after we told them about you guys and wanted to help pay Sun back for the show he put on with Cardin."

Neptune smiled as she said it and couldn't help but laugh. "Sure, let's do it."

"Wait, really?" Sage asked.

"We did this to help others didn't we? I'd say we're helping a lot of people. So you know what they say-."

"Roll the dice," Sun said, he shared Neptune's smile.

"Land where they may," Scarlet said as he got behind the kit again.

"No matter what they show," Sage said as he put his guitar back on.

"I'm still gonna play."

Yang offered a smile and clapped her hands together. "Then let's talk business!"

XXX

"It's none of your business, Roman." Adam's voice lowered to a growl.

"Fine then did you actually think of any ideas?"

"Yes, all we need is someone to pin the diversion on, apart from that, the ball's in your court."

"If I may be so bold here Adam, your little pet isn't here. What a perfect opportunity, rid yourself of the rat and-."

In a flash, Adam's knife ripped through Roman's hand and left it attached to the table. Roman didn't yell out, but he was most assuredly shut up by that.

"You know what you need to do, shut up and do it. Now leave."

Roman held his hand as it bled and made his exit. Adam cracked his neck and cleaned up the office, he did his best to rid the apartment of the smell of cigars. He hated that man, but if he was going to keep up he needed him. And if his double cross would work, and Roman would rot. And he _would_ make it work.

His scroll went off a moment later, and a familiar number appeared.

"Taiyang, what a surprise, shouldn't you be at work?"

" _I will be, but I ran into some car trouble. I should be there in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, could you email me those case files from last month? The Fall cases?_ "

"You're still working on that? I thought they got that thrown out."

" _Nope, we kept it in._ "

"How if I may ask, I wanted her to go down harder than you did," Adam said with a laugh, Cinder Fall was not a nice woman, and Adam hated her. More so what she did to Faunus under her thumb. His blood boiled at the thought.

" _The witness finally talked._ "

"Amber actually spoke?" Adam was surprised, Amber hadn't said a word in all of this. The scars on her face from the attack would tell any story, but without witness confirmations it was just speculation. Cinder kept Amber quiet through fear Adam had guessed.

" _Yep, she spilled everything, it goes to court next month. I just need to do some late night reading._ "

"I don't envy your sleep schedule, I'll have them by the time you get there. Take her down for me."

" _Will do, you get some rest. Maybe tomorrow we can meet up and go over the cases?_ "

"I'll see what I can do, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

" _Sounds good, get some sleep Adam._ "

"Will do, farewell."

The scrolls went off and Adam went into his office. His computer didn't stay still even after he'd emailed the files to Taiyang. Blake finally returned and was shocked by the emptiness of the apartment.

"D-did I stay too late?"

"No, the meeting ended early."

Blake nodded and fidgeted for a minute before speaking again. "C-could I go out on Saturday?"

Adam thought for a moment before pushing away from his computer. "We'll discuss it later, for now you should get to sleep, you have class in the morning."

Blake nodded and dashed off. He heard the door lock but he didn't mind, he just kept working. As long as she didn't distract him, she was fine.

XXX

"It's fine, I missed this," she said softly. Ruby kept playing as Penny watched.

"Well this is pretty much all I did when you were gone, so it's just weird that this is the first thing we do together. Besides, Yang already went out with Sage and Sun's hanging out with Neptune."

"Well I enjoy this," she said happily. Ruby watched as the next opponent came up and she recognized the name.

"HAH! Bring it Scarlet!" she quickly went over to Aganos and selected him. She could hear him over the mic, the chanting of 'crap' and 'oh, shit' was amusing. He went to Tusk and hovered over him for a few moments before the match started.

"Who is Scarlet?"

"He's one of the kids in the band you met Monday, well kinda met."

"I see, and he plays too?"

"Yep! Let's go!"

Tusk brandished his blade as he stood ready, only to meet the war golem's stone glare. Tusk went straight in and swung with his massive blade but Aganos was ready. He blocked the first strike and went for a grab, throwing Tusk across the stage and setting up a wall. Tusk rushed back in but Aganos had set up another wall behind him again. Soon Tusk had nowhere to go, but he still swung away, trying to make a dent in his armor. Aganos picked him up yet again and threw him away, this time he made a wall and turned it into a club, the club kept tusk away well enough that Aganos had time to gather more stones in his chest. The last bit of Tusk's health bar dropped with a thrown club from across the screen. Tusk got back up but was cut short by Aganos barreling forward and crashing into him. Tusk was brave and tried to break away but Aganos countered him and gathered four stones as he sent Tusk flying away. Aganos slammed his hand down repeatedly and made four walls as Tusk went in. Tusk called upon his eons of training and made his assault. It was a vicious assault, but all Aganos needed was one opportunity, and Ruby shadow countered him with a massive punch into all four walls. The damage dropped him instantly.

"YES!" Ruby called out as she won. Scarlet showed his defeat with a traditional cry of 'No', but congratulated the game anyway.

"Impressive," Penny said.

"Thanks," Ruby said, blushing at her enthusiasm. "Sorry for yelling like that."

Penny's answer was to kiss Ruby's cheek and hold her shoulders. "Do not apologize for doing well at something you like."

"Okay," she said, still blushing.

"You are adorable," Penny said softly. "Did you know that there is a video game tournament happening soon?"

"Yeah I know! It's the Vytal Fighting-Game Tournament! They have a lot of games, but this is the first year there will be a real KI spot!"

"You could enter, I think you'd do well," Penny told her.

"Eh, the entry fee is like 75 bucks. And I just don't have the money to spare right now."

"Would you like to?" she asked. "If you could do it?"

"Maybe, it'd be fun that's for sure. I'm just not sure how good I'll do."

"I think you'd do great," Penny said as she hugged Ruby again, kissing her head.

"Thanks," she said, leaning into the embrace, blushing harder. "So now that you're not as jet-lagged." She turned off the console and set her fight stick down, turning back to fidget with her hands. "And since Yang isn't going to be here for a while, you think-."

Penny interrupted her by tackling her and kissing her roughly. Ruby inwardly cheered, but outwardly moaned and Penny's hands went straight to the spots she remembered.

"It's been nearly eight months since my last visit; care to see if my memory serves me well?"

XXX

"Memory doesn't matter; I'm still paying for me." Yang threw her money on the table.

"I won't try to argue, but if you want to order the Godzilla burger again, I'll help cover."

"Noted," she said with a smile.

"So will Ruby be okay with Penny?"

"Yeah, we'll just need to give them plenty of time alone, preferably I'll just wait until she calls me."

"When Scarlet said she was with a military kid, that wasn't what I was expecting."

"Yeah well, Penny and Ruby were friends way before they started screwing each other."

Sage couldn't help but laugh at Yang's blunt demeanor.

"Ruby's mom and Penny's dad were in the same platoon for a few years so they met up often, and they'd bring Ruby and Penny."

"That's nice."

"Yep, so I was thinking after we eat we-." Yang was interrupted by her scroll going off. "Yello?" Sage gave a chuckle until he saw Yang's face start to fall. She sat in silence as the other person talked to her. "Uh, w-when?"

"Everything alright?" he mouthed.

She didn't do anything but put her hand on her forehead. "C-can I bring a friend?" she asked. "I'll be there in a few." Yang hung up her scroll and sighed deeply.

"What's wrong?"

Yang just took some deep shaky breaths. "Raven called my dad," she said softly.

"Who is Raven?"

"My mom."

Sage didn't say anything for a while; he simply let Yang hold his hand as she tried to calm herself down.

"She wants to meet with me today, at the park."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Yes, because I don't want to say anything stupid."

"We can take our time," Sage said. He paid for them and started to walk out with her in tow. She nestled herself into his side as he held her, the streets were empty for the long march. Sage himself just tried to be there for her, but he was unsure of what he should say. He was lost in his own thoughts, at least until she stopped and stared at the ground.

"I c-can't," she said finally.

"Yang you can do this," he told her.

"N-not yet, I need t-time, this is-." She shook her head and tried to calm herself down.

"Yang, I'll be with you."

"No!" she said, her fists balled up involuntarily and she tried to escape but he stopped her. "Not n-ow, I need t-to-." She finally ran into his arms, and he could hear her breaking down. "W-what if she still doesn't want me?!" she shouted into him. "Wh-at if s-she hates me?!"

Sage held her tighter and tighter as she wept. It's the hardest seeing the strong people break, because you don't know how long they've held those questions back. How long have they asked themselves because no one else could answer? How long have they kept it hidden for the sake of others?

"I c-can't do this."

Not this time. "Yes you can."

"N-no I-."

"Yes you can. Get it out now."

She tried to pull back but he wouldn't let her.

"Ask all those questions, voice all those worries, get them out now. Don't bottle it up anymore."

"Please don't bottle it up anymore."

Yang shivered from her sobs, trying to speak but he wouldn't let her.

" _Well forgive me I don't/Mean to intrude/You see my hands/Are shaking too,"_ he sang gently, letting her cry and get out the gunk.

" _So just settle down/This storm won't last forever/We're meant for more/Than this world/I'm not that strong/Honestly I'm not/But you always see/The best in me._ "

Yang kept crying into him, she gripped his arms and clung to him as she shook from exhaustion. They kept walking after that, finally getting to the park a half hour later than they wanted. It was a Saturday so the park was swarming with little kids but luckily there were two swings open for them.

"You know when I was a little girl, I never got to play on the swings when I wanted," she said after a few minutes of silence on the playground.

"Really?"

"Mmhmm, I'd have to wait for a long time or Dad would call me away, or I'd have to give one to Ruby, something like that. One day we'd gotten to the park later than we usually did, so I was sprinting full tilt to the swings, and this one little blonde kid just dashed up out of nowhere and leaps on before I could get there. I got so mad, so I just shoved him off. I looked at the kid with wide eyes and before I knew _I_ ran away in tears. The other boy just looked at me like I was nuts, but I ran back to my dad in tears and I'd told him what happened. He made sure I wasn't hurt, made sure the boy wasn't hurt, and then he made me apologize."

"Why did you run away crying?"

"It was the first time I'd ever really lost my temper, and I didn't realize what I was doing. It kind of scared me." Yang paused for a minute and laughed a bit. "I didn't realize until a few years later that I'd pushed Jaune off the swings, so I used that story as blackmail material for Pyrrha."

Sage laughed as they kept swinging. "How long have they been together?"

"Since they were six," she said. "Pyrrha protected Jaune on the playground when we were little because Jaune was getting picked on."

"Why?"

"He didn't want to play basketball with the other boys, he spent time drawing. So Pyrrha protected him, then Jaune goes and draws a really nice picture for her. They've pretty much been together since then."

"They seem nice."

"Yep, Pyrrha's a basketball player. A damn good one too, she's made varsity three years in a row. And Jaune turned out to be really good at wrestling; he even beat out Cardin for a spot in the State competition."

"Interesting, he doesn't strike me as a wrestler."

"Well he wasn't going to do it until one of the coaches practically made him try out and he beat a guy two weight classes above him."

"Impressive."

"Yep, Pyrrha and Jaune have been really good friends for me ever since Summer died. Before you guys came around they were the only ones I could really talk to."

"What about Weiss and Blake?"

"They were there more for Ruby, and understandably so. The only reason I'm friends with Weiss and Blake is because of Ruby. But Jaune and Pyrrha were really there for me, in fact before I met you Pyrrha was the only person who'd ever seen me really cry except my dad."

"Well I'm here now," Sage said.

"I know."

They were quiet for a few more minutes until Sage cracked a smile. "I bet I can get higher than you can."

"You wish!" she said in a scoff.

"I know I can, I have a lower center of gravity," he said as he pointed to her chest. "I'll go higher!"

"That's only cause of your huge ass!" she said back.

"Is that why you keep staring?" he asked.

"What can I say, I know what I like!"

They sat swinging for a few more minutes until finally they agreed that the swing set wasn't meant for two 180lb teenagers and decided to go back to softly swinging. They continued to talk more and more until Sage watched Yang's face fall again. Sage looked out and saw the woman in question, even after the one photograph he'd seen he knew that was her. She was just a black haired Yang. Her hair was cut shorter, and her eyes were red instead of purple, that was about the only difference.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

Yang nodded. "I think I am."

"I'll be over here okay?"

"Thanks."

Yang slowly walked over and sat on a bench as Raven did the same. Neither of the two spoke for a few moments, but simply watched the world whirl about before them.

"What's your friend's name?" Raven asked softly.

"Sage."

"He seems nice."

"Mmhmm."

It was quiet for a few more moments and Sage had a rough time watching but he didn't know what else to do.

"I'm almost jealous," Raven said.

"Why?"

"You look exactly like Tai." Raven shook her head in a laugh. "It's uncanny."

"Well I got some things from you."

"I didn't expect this to be easy but it's certainly much harder than I'd anticipated."

"Yeah," she said softly.

"Should I just start from the beginning and tell you why I left?"

"I think you owe me that," Yang admitted.

"I owe you far more, but it's a start I guess." Raven nodded and wrenched her hands together. "Before I met Tai, I was a high school drop-out. I got into drugs my junior year and I just fell deeper and deeper into a pit. I burned the bridges with my family and just lost myself deeper in my own self-pity. And it wasn't just drugs." Raven sighed again and turned away from Yang. "Let's just say you weren't the first time I'd gotten pregnant," she said softly.

Yang tensed but didn't say anything.

"When Tai found me I was trawling in the streets looking for money and I met a guy who was offering me drugs but he was just trying to get me alone, when I got in the alley with him he held me against the wall with a knife across my neck. I'd been attacked before but I was strung out and weak. I couldn't fight back. Tai found me and he got the man off of me and took me away. I couldn't even fight off Tai when he practically dragged me to his apartment. He gave me a home, food, clothes. He didn't want anything in return except my promise that I'd get sober. And I couldn't fight him, I was just so tired. I was there for a few months and I fell in love."

"Then you got pregnant again, with me?"

Raven nodded. "I didn't want to keep you, but Tai was excited, he said we could raise you. And he talked me into it. We'd picked names, painted up a nursery, even bought clothes."

"Then why did you leave?"

"I met Qrow," she said. "We talked and he asked me what I was doing, after I explained the situation he was happy for me. He told me he'd gone into the police academy after I ran away and was looking for me. He was worried about me."

"So that made you run off?" Yang asked.

"No, my decision that I needed to make up for my past. I talked with Qrow and Taiyang about helping to take down the drug dealers. Qrow said that my co-operation would reduce my sentence but the information I was giving couldn't save me from a prison sentence. But I didn't care. I wanted to do the right thing," Raven told her.

"So after I was born, you turned yourself in."

Raven nodded. "They let me deliver you safely and wean you, but after that I was to serve my time."

"That's why you didn't want dad telling me about you?"

"I wanted to explain it after I'd gotten out, and I didn't want you to see me the way I was."

The two sat with each other for a few more minutes.

"Then why did dad marry Summer?"

"I told him to move on, I didn't feel like we were going to survive the years apart and I felt we were over anyway. I didn't actually know Summer died until I was released and I started talking to Qrow again."

"So what now?"

"Now it's your choice, Yang."

"My choice for what?"

"You can say goodbye here and now, and we part ways. Or we can try to mend our relationship, but in the end it's your choice."

"Then it's a no-brainer isn't it?" Yang asked as she stood up. She watched Raven's face fall for a moment before she called Sage back over. Sage walked up to the two of them as Yang started to smile though her tears. "Mom, meet Sage, my boyfriend. Sage, meet my mom."

Raven's eyes were wide as dinner plates as Sage started laughing. Even Yang couldn't help but laugh, despite her tears.

"Welcome home, mom."

XXX

Sage once again elected to walk her home, this time though she didn't mind it. They walked home hand in hand again, this time though she was smiling. At least there was that.

"What was that song you were singing?"

" _Best In Me_ , by Sent By Ravens."

"Hmm, Raven," Yang said suspiciously.

"I didn't think about it like that, though."

"Can you sing it again?"

" _Well forgive me I don't/Mean to intrude/You see my hands/Are shaking too/So just settle down/This storm won't last forever/We're meant for more/Than this world/I'm not that strong/Honestly I'm not/But you always see/The best in me._ "

"Thank you, Sage."

"You're welcome."

XXX 

_I wanted to treat Raven a little differently in this one, and honestly I'm really happy with how that turned out. P.S. you guys should totally check out Sent By Ravens, they're awesome!_

 _Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time._


End file.
